She glanced over her shoulder at Roger. ‘Give Greg a call. I want him to help Miss Kennedy – ’

‘Kate, please.’

‘Kate.’ She flashed Kate a quick smile. ‘He could start loading her stuff into the Land Rover.’

‘I don’t want to be a nuisance.’

‘You won’t be.’ Was it Kate’s imagination, or was there a certain grim determination in the way Diana said those words?

Greg, when called, turned out to be a man in his late twenties or early thirties, Kate guessed, which made him around her age or slightly younger. His handsome features were slightly blurred – too many beers and too little care of himself – and his thick pullover was smeared with oil paint. He shook hands with her amiably enough but she sensed a hint of reserve, even resentment in his manner. It was enough to make her question her first impression that here was a very attractive man.

‘I’m sorry. It’s a nuisance for you to have to drive me to the cottage,’ she said. She met his eyes challengingly.

‘But necessary if our tenant is to be safely installed,’ he replied. His voice was deep; musical but cold.

Bill must have felt it too. She saw him frown as he levered himself to his feet from the low sofa. ‘Come on, Greg. I’ll give you a hand. Leave the others to finish their tea, eh?’

As the front door opened and the two men disappeared into the swiftly-falling dusk, a wisp of fragrant apple smoke blew back down the chimney.

‘You can park your car in the barn, Kate,’ Roger said comfortably. He leaned back in his chair, stretching his legs out towards the fire. ‘It’ll be out of the worst of the weather there. Pick it up whenever you want, and if you have any heavy groceries and things at any time give us a shout and we’ll run them over for you. It’s a damn nuisance the track is so bad. I keep meaning to ask our neighbour if he’ll bring a digger or something up here and level it off a bit, but you know how it is. We’ve never got round to it.’