‘I do! I do!’

‘—then I’d best get on up to Highview Cottage.’

‘Go, go now,’ laughed Ellen, almost dancing on the spot in excitement and flapping her hands to urge Tom on his way. ‘Here, take these …’ She produced her secateurs from her jacket pocket and quickly snipped off three of the very last roses, binding them together with a spare length of twine. ‘I know they’re not mine to take, but no one’s here to mind. Now go!’

Tom hugged her, taking the roses, then, laughing, went off to find Dora. Ellen listened to his fading footsteps and smiled.

She sank down onto a bench, realising it was the one she had sat on with Gina that afternoon when the police came and took her away. Gina had gone with them quietly; she knew that the game was up and she must face her punishment.

Ellen leaned back and closed her eyes, thinking of all that had happened since she’d first come to work at the Hall, choosing to remember only the good things and closing her mind to the rest. First of all there was everything she had learned in the garden under the careful and patient tutelage of her uncle, and how he had eventually trusted her with the rose garden as her own responsibility; then there was falling in love with Edward and how he understood why she should want to continue working at what she was good at, and not give up a career that had once looked as if it could take her to the position of head gardener here or at another garden one day; there was the morning of the flood and poor Mrs Thwaite breaking her arm, and how everyone had worked together to prevent the house being flooded; the Wednesday afternoon visits to Mr Shepherd with Sally, and the old man’s kindness and generous sharing of his bookish knowledge; the village fête held in the garden and the fun of all the preparations …

Ellen opened her eyes and in the clear autumn sky before her she saw a curiously shaped cloud. It was like a pair of white birds with long, elegant necks and massive, powerful wings. As she watched, one of the bird shapes broke away and sped off across the sky, while what remained changed more slowly in the winds, growing rounder until it resembled not a bird but a beautiful rose.

There were footsteps on the gravel of the drive. For a moment it was just like that afternoon when Gina had been arrested; Ellen’s heart thudded at the sudden terrible memory. Then Edward appeared, with his cheerful smile and his adorably ruddy farmer’s complexion.

‘Thought I’d find you here, Nell.’

‘I’m just thinking of going home. There’s nowt much to do here now.’

‘I’ll help you pack your tools away and we’ll walk back together?’