‘Fifteen cows?’ Ryan frowned, thinking this through. ‘But that’s hardly enough to justify milking machines.’

‘Well, isn’t that lucky?’ Abbey managed a smile. ‘We milk by hand.’

‘You have to be kidding!’

‘No.’ Abbey sighed again. ‘Look, if we get rid of the farm entirely I think Janet will just curl up and die. She loves Jack and she loves the farm.’

‘Abbey, Janet’s hands… her hip…’

‘Yes?’ Abbey’s voice was disinterested and weary. Twenty more minutes until she had to face the cows…

‘Abbey, Janet’s hands are crippled with arthritis. Her hip seems even worse than her hands.’

‘So?’

‘She can’t possibly milk.’

‘No. I do that.’

‘That’s ridiculous,’ Ryan exploded. ‘You can’t milk twice a day and run a medical practice and care for a-’

‘What’s the choice here, Ryan?’

Silence.

‘There has to be a choice,’ Ryan said at last He thought of Felicity-of what she’d say, presented with this nightmare. It didn’t bear thinking of. ‘You’ll have to buy a small house in town… ’

‘I told you-we can’t live in town. Janet can’t bear it. And this place was cheaper than anything within the town boundaries.’ Abbey cast a rueful glance around at the rising damp on the walls and the cracks in the plaster. ‘Much cheaper. This way-well, the cows bring in an income. Janet thinks she’s making a contribution-as indeed she is. She cares for the poultry and sells the eggs and she cares for Jack when I’m away…’

‘And you do all your house calls by bicycle!’

‘I have a car,’ Abbey said defensively. ‘I just don’t use it when I can use the bike.’

‘You can’t tell me you wouldn’t make more and have an easier life living in an apartment in town.’

‘I might,’ Abbey said evenly. ‘Jack and I could live in a flat at the back of the hospital. But where would that leave Janet?’