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wrapped in his handkerchief, and she was reminded of him every time she looked at it. After that first encounter, she had not seen him again until two years later, when he had attended the squire’s funeral. She and her mother had not gone to the service, but they had welcomed people back to the house afterwards, and Raff had been amongst the company. She would not easily forget his warm hand clasp, and the way that he had remembered her name, and asked her how she was feeling.
    After the funeral, it had been revealed that the squire’s debts were so great that the house had to be sold to cover them. It was then that Mrs Warburton and her daughter were offered the use of a cottage on the Ashbourne estate. Jessie had wondered many times since whether Raff had been instrumental in that offer.
    Three years after that, she had summoned up the courage to ask her mother about her real father. It had been Raff who had taken the trouble to find out that he had died on the Continent just three years after Jessie was born. Then, a short time later, he had given her a book of artistic prints, containing two by her father. She kept the book with her figurine.
    At that moment, Mr Lusty drew her into a conversation with two other people, and her ruminations concerning Rake Ashbourne ceased for the present.
     
    Understandably enough, the party acquired a certain languor after the bride and groom had gone, and it was not long before the guests had made their farewells. The only people who were staying overnight at Woodfield Park were Jessie and Lady Agatha, who as well as being the groom’s aunt, was also the bride’s godmother and one of Lady Hope’s oldest friends. Henry Lusty was riding back to Sheffield, where he served as the bishop’s chaplain.
    ‘Such a relief to have Eustacia married so well,’ murmured Lady Hope, as she and her husband sat at dinner with their two lady guests that night. ‘Although I did not say so at the time, I quite thought that when Morrison jilted her last spring, it would prove to be the end of her prospects.’
    Sir Wilfred smiled. ‘I think that your son-in-law’s character is too strong for him to be swayed by such considerations,’ he remarked.
    ‘He shouldn’t be too concerned about a bit of scandal,’ Lady Agatha observed dispassionately. ‘He ought to be used to it with Ashbourne as his father.’
    Jessie paused briefly in her eating, then determinedly carried on.
    ‘I will say this for Ashbourne, and you know that I am the last woman to defend him,’ said Lady Hope, ‘but he conducted himself impeccably while he was here.’ Her ladyship had known Lord Ashbourne when, as Viscount Ilam, he had laid siege to her in her acting days.
    ‘He certainly did,’ agreed Sir Wilfred. ‘I was glad to have him on hand at the ball and at the wedding breakfast. It was like having another host about.’
    Lord Ashbourne had called that day to bid them all farewell, announcing that he was returning to London. ‘You are very kind,’ he had said in response to Sir Wilfred’s invitation to dine, ‘but I am expected by Lady Gilchrist today, and I may spend a few days there.’
    Enjoying Lady Gilchrist’s beautiful fragility, Jessie had thought to herself. Quite involuntarily, she had imagined his lordship’s shapely fingers that had so meticulously mended the figurine, caressing Lady Gilchrist’s white skin.
    Now, Lady Agatha gave a disapproving sniff. ‘No doubt he’ll beoff to the Continent and back to his boozing and wenching,’ she said scornfully. ‘By the way, have you heard what Ilam has done for me?’
    ‘I think Eustacia told me that he had put a house at your disposal,’ said Lady Hope. ‘I thought that you were going to live in the dower house.’
    ‘Yes, I was, but when Ilam went to have a look at it, he found that it needed a lot more work than he had thought at first. Besides, I wasn’t much looking forward to living in the dower house. It’s too isolated, and will be