‘Thank you, Gurney.’ Rosalind hesitated with her hand on Bob’s collar. ‘Is Tommy proving to be a help to you in the stables?’

‘Aye, ma’am. He’s a good lad and when he’s older he’ll make a fine groom. He has no fear of horses and he has a way with them.’

‘Thank you, Gurney. That’s all I wanted to know.’ Rosalind walked off in the direction of the home woods with Bob on her heels. She found Nancy and Tommy, as Gurney had suggested, in the tree house. Their laughter echoed round the clearing in the tall trees and it had such a joyful sound that Rosalind could have cried with relief. They scrambled down the ladder in answer to her call and Bob made such a fuss of them that Rosalind was almost jealous.

‘Have we done wrong, ma’am?’ Nancy asked anxiously. ‘Was I supposed to be helping in the kitchen?’

‘I done me bit in the stables, miss,’ Tommy added. ‘Mr Gurney said I done well.’

‘I’m glad to see you using the old tree house,’ Rosalind said, smiling. ‘My brothers and I used to play here often when we were your age. Just be careful you don’t fall out of it and break an arm or a leg. That would be very painful.’

Nancy eyed her warily. ‘We’ll be careful, ma’am.’

‘I’m taking Bob for a walk to the backwater. Come with me.’