She saw his face light up like a young man’s in a blaze of joy. ‘And do you know how she thinks of me?’ he asked. ‘You and she are very close. How does she speak of me?’

‘With great affection,’ Hester said. ‘But whether she loves you as a father or a friend I can’t say. And I’ve never asked. I was hoping, perhaps, that I would never have to ask. If she had met a young man, or if John had come home, or if the war ended …’ She turned away from a dozen regrets. ‘I’ll go and fetch her.’

Frances was in the stable yard, pumping water into a bucket for Alexander’s horse.

‘Your uncle wants to see you,’ Hester said abruptly. She had to restrain herself from drawing the girl to her, smoothing her hair, holding her once more. ‘In the parlour.’

Frances heaved the full bucket into the stable and shut the door. ‘Is anything wrong?’

Hester kept her face pleasantly uninformative. ‘He wants to ask you something,’ she said. ‘You must answer however you wish, Frances. Please remember that. Answer however you wish. And think about it. No need for haste.’

The girl looked puzzled and then turned towards the house.

In the parlour Alexander found that his throat was so tight that he could hardly breathe. As the door opened he turned around and saw Frances. She put her cape over the back of one of the chairs. She was plainly dressed in a warm gown of grey and there was a thread of hay in her hair. He took her hands.

‘You’re cold,’ he said.

‘I was watering your horse.’

‘You should not have done that. I thought Joseph was in the yard.’

‘He has too much to do. We have lost all our garden boys. Johnnie and I have to help. I don’t mind it.’

His fingers again felt the calluses on her hands. ‘I don’t want you doing hard work.’

She smiled. ‘Mother said you wanted to ask me something?’

Now it came to it Alexander found that he could barely speak. ‘I do.’

She said nothing, waited for him. He drew her to the chair before the fire, and when she was seated he remained awkwardly standing before her. Then it was the most natural thing in the world to drop to one knee and take her cold little hand between his two palms and say gently: ‘Frances, I have loved you since you were a little girl and I would like you to be my wife.’