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what I’m doing, so don’t worry.’
    ‘Ah, yes, qualified maybe. But well experienced? No!’
    Anna smiled tolerantly and gave her mother a peck on the cheek before she went to bed. But peaceful sleep was difficult to find that night. She tossed and turned, went down for a drink two hours later, and then tossed around a good while longer as she planned her venture. Her mind would not let her settle for a good night’s rest.
    Anna spent most of the night thinking until she heard the early dawn chorus. She looked out through the window as the eastern sky paled with the first hint of daylight. Minutes later, she finally slipped into a sleep full of the escapades of her ancient buccaneering Welsh ancestors fighting for their lives on the high seas.
     

 
    Chapter Seven
     
    When Anna finally woke in the morning she felt as though she had been in a fight, but as the thought of the manor house filled her mind again, all her aches and languid feelings slipped away. She jumped out of bed, showered and dressed, and was downstairs long before Ieuan Rees was due.
    Too excited to eat a decent breakfast, she nibbled on a piece of toast as she watched through the window for the builder’s van to arrive. As soon as it pulled up outside the house she ran to open the door, but the man who stood on the doorstep with a broad grin on his face was Ieuan Rees’s son, local heart throb, David.
    ‘I’ve called to see the lady of the manor,’ he said, in a stage voice, bowing graciously, but then changed his tone to something more serious. ‘Dad asked me to come instead of him. He’s in the middle of a big job… burst pipes … and jobs like that can’t be left waiting.’
    ‘Oh, I see. Will you be able to give me a quote?’ Anna said, looking at him doubtfully. ‘You got enough experience to do that?’
    ‘Course I have.’ David frowned, obviously annoyed at her question. ‘Done it often enough. The old man trusts me, so don’t let it worry you.’ He fiddled with the keys to the van. ‘Well, you coming, or not?’
    Anna settled in the front seat and stole a sly look at the man at her side. She knew he was two years older than she was, and that he had always been extremely popular with the girls. With his good looks, that was only to be expected; he was tall and muscular, with a tousle of dark brown hair and a healthy glow to his cheeks. His smile dimpled his face, and that smile had never failed to jerk hearts whenever he turned it on. He had been going out with Mary Powell for over a year, and everyone was expecting to hear about an engagement, but last night Anna had heard gossip that it was all off—he had dumped her.
    ‘So tell me what all this means, Anna.’
    David listened in silence until she had finished telling him the story.
    ‘Looks like you’ve come into a fortune then?’
    ‘Hardly. My mother calls it a misfortune.’ She sniffed and pulled a face. ‘I’m keen to hold onto the place, David. It’s my heritage.’
    ‘Oh, boy,’ he exclaimed, jabbing his finger at the scene that lay before them as they drove up to the front of the house. ‘Look at that! ‘All yours? The land, and woods as well?’
    ‘Yup. All of it.’ Anna grinned broadly as she scrambled out of the van, then giggled as she whispered in his ear.
    ‘What? You’ve got that much money as well? You don’t have to worry then.’
    They walked up to the house, and David cast his eyes over the roof. ‘Yes, it’s plain to see some of the pan tiles need replacing, but it’s not too bad considering the age of the building, and the fact it’s high and catching the wind off the sea. Finding tiles to match could be a big problem though; they’re damn old, those stone tiles.’
    They wandered inside, and went over the whole house, with David making a careful note of all the urgent repairs needed. ‘This house is solid and because it’s built on rock, there’s no rising damp. You’re lucky.’ Then he jerked his thumb at the wall at the