‘You all right over there?’ Jack’s deep tones put the reins on my galloping thoughts.

‘Yes, thanks.’ I turned to smile at him. ‘Just thinking.’

He returned the smile. ‘That’s what I was worried about.’

‘Are you nervous?’

Jack took a deep breath and then let it out slowly. ‘Not especially, but I think that’s only because I was brought up in a household where social engagements and large functions were part of the norm. Even when I started prep school, most of the boys were from similar, privileged backgrounds so it wasn’t until I started mixing with a wider range of people, especially in the village, that I realised my home life wasn’t how everybody lived.’

‘What did you think about that, when you discovered the majority of people didn’t dress for dinner and entertain lords and ladies all the time?’

‘Honestly? I thought, well, this is wonderful! That’s one of the many reasons I loved coming to your house. Yes, we ate at the table and had that “family time”, but at yours it actually was family time. You talked about your days, but it was relaxed. There was no pressure, no one to impress. It was just… great.’ He spread his hands, as though unable to encompass all the thoughts he had in words.

‘I always wondered if you looked down on us a bit. I said something about it to Felix once, but he dismissed it immediately, saying that you didn’t and you weren’t like that.’

‘But you had your doubts?’

‘I did. But perhaps that was due more to my own insecurities than your behaviour.’

‘Just for utmost clarification, I never, ever looked down on any of you and never would. If you want God’s honest truth, I often wished that I could be part of your family instead of my own.’

I turned to look at him in the low light of the car, shifting slightly in my seat. The movement exposed a sizeable flash of leg, which I hurriedly adjusted in as nonchalant a manner as possible, continuing my conversation at the same time and hoping that Jack hadn’t noticed. A hint of smile showed on his face which told me he’d not missed a thing and that my bungled attempt to cover up had probably only made it worse. Perhaps this dress hadn’t been such a great idea after all – but I did love it. And why not? My legs were actually in pretty decent shape from the walks I took around my own garden and fields and now, with a dog to exercise as well, I’d noticed some extra tone come back into them. Perhaps it was just one more thing that I needed to chill out about. I returned my train of thought to Jack’s original statement.

‘You’d really rather have been part of our family?’

‘Well, Felix didn’t have the pressure on him to marry that I did, and to marry the right person, or pick the correct career, which in essence meant having both my wife and career picked for me. Your parents were interested in what you had to say, what you both thought and wanted to do. My parents are still stuck in an age where everything is ruled by tradition. The aristocracy has moved on, but it feels like sometimes my mother especially is stuck in aspic of a time long gone.’