Lee and Mark's mother had made herself Mark's slave, and it had been a shock for him to find himself living with a sister who had no time to wait on him and a niece, only five years younger than himself, who had no intention of doing so.

He was warm-hearted, emotional, idealistic and often charming. Lee thought that when she'd managed to undo the results of her mother's over-indulgence he would be delightful. But for the moment he could be exasperating to live with, particularly when he argued with her about money.

Their father had left him a legacy of thirty thousand pounds, which Lee held in trust until he was twenty-one. It was safely invested, and as Mark had grown older she'd begun making him an allowance out of the income, sometimes handing over an extra amount for reasonable expenses. But his idea of 'reasonable' was wildly different from hers, and if she'd yielded to him too often he would have had nothing left by now.

'What's that monstrosity doing out there?' he said when greetings had been exchanged and they were gathered in the kitchen.

'That's the car I've hired while mine's being re-paired, following a collision with a lunatic who was driving on the wrong side of the road. He actually dared to blame me.'

'How could he, if he was in the wrong?' demanded Sonya, scandalised.

'No man ever thinks he's in the wrong where his car is concerned,' said Lee. 'He was a first class MCP. I thought they were extinct, but he was an absolute porker.'

'How long before you get your own back?' Mark demanded.

'Two weeks at least. They're waiting for a part. And I'm afraid that one's only insured for my use.'

'Then don't you think,' he said, reverting to a battle that had been running between them for weeks, 'that it's time I had my own car?'

'I do not. You're on a direct bus route to the college.'