‘You’re right, of course, Tom, though I know there is cause to be anxious about the sheep, with everyone fearing foot and mouth these days. Phil takes his work at the farm very seriously – of course he does – but if it wasn’t the flock it’d be summat else causing him fretting or fury, and often it’s a trifling matter. It’s hard work bearing the weight of all his pessimism, and the girls shouldn’t have their home life cast under a black cloud and be tiptoeing round their father’s ill temper all the time. I worry they’ll be off at the first opportunity – and I could hardly blame them – and then it’ll just be me trying to cope with Phil alone. I don’t know if I’d be able to manage. Sometimes it’s like he’s sucking all the joy out of my life.’

Tom reached out and took Dora’s hand where it rested in her lap, and she didn’t resist when he raised it to his lips and gently kissed the back of it.

‘Oh, Dora,’ he murmured, ‘if only—’

‘—it had been different,’ she finished. ‘But it is what it is, lad, and I’d best get on and tackle that sitting room before Mr and Mrs S want to be in there.’ Reluctantly she pulled her hand away, stood up, brushed off the seat of her thin coat and straightened her shoulders. She never allowed herself more than a minute or two alone with Tom, yet she relished that brief time as a thirsty insect might devour tiny drops of water on a petal. She must never look for more than that, she knew; she could not trust herself.

‘And I’d best oil this beast and make the first cut of the season,’ said Tom, also getting to his feet but not taking his eyes off Dora.

‘How did Nell do yesterday?’ she asked, stepping away and adopting the tone of Mrs Arnold, the Hall’s reliable domestic. ‘She seemed to think it went all right.’

‘It’s early days but I think she’ll be grand,’ said Tom Arnold, the gardener. ‘Oh, but, lass, we need to be extra careful with both the girls here,’ he added quietly.

‘Huh, Gina! I don’t know what she’s playing at, but I’ve had a word about the kind of behaviour I expect – or rather, don’t expect. I don’t want her giving the Arnolds a bad name. We have our reputations to think of,’ said Dora pointedly, then smiled and turned for the house.

‘As if I’m not thinking of your reputation every day,’ Tom murmured, watching her go. ‘Why else would I be feeling this way about you and doing nowt about it?’

Gina pedalled down the drive of Grindle Hall. Ahead she could see her sister bending over a pile of dead flower heads she had raked together.