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once. He’s married and can’t or won’t get a divorce. I think she wanted him – that’s why she took Dad on the rebound.’
    â€˜Well, you may be right,’ Daniel said. ‘I’ll do what I can to help with the accounts while I’m home – but I can’t manage anything too physical at the moment.’
    â€˜We can manage most of it. We’ve got a couple of Land Army girls now, and they do pretty well for amateurs. I’m going to try to get more soon. You’ll have to take a look around when you feel up to it. Clay has made some improvements to the sheds and things, pulled down some of the older buildings and put up new. He argued with Dad over it for ages, but it’s done now.’
    â€˜I’m sure you can sort him out,’ Daniel said. ‘Though if he wants to go on his own you might as well let him. It will only cause friction otherwise.’
    â€˜I said I’d ask you,’ Henry said, with a frown. ‘It means deciding on his share. He wants a lot of the land in Chatteris Fen, because it’s good potato and carrot land – but it’s some of the best we own.’
    â€˜Couldn’t we get it valued?’
    â€˜No land is worth much on paper at the moment, Dan. I think he ought to be prepared to either take fewer acres or pay something – otherwise he’s skimming the cream.’
    â€˜Well, perhaps we should all sit down with the solicitor and see exactly how things stand?’
    â€˜Yes, I think that is for the best,’ Henry said. ‘At least you’ll be on my side, Dan. Clay has to realize there’s the girls and Connor to think about as well as us three.’
    â€˜And Margaret,’ Daniel reminded him. They lingered on the front doorstep for a moment as Henry remembered various bits and pieces, but at last he was ready to leave. ‘I’ll see you later then  . . .’
    Daniel waved as his brother went off in his battered old truck, it’s engine spluttering and banging all the way round the corner. He made a mental note to give it an overhaul once he was feeling better. At least he could do that while he was here, and perhaps it was a good thing he had come back when he did. It seemed that Emily had been right to be concerned. Things weren’t as they should be, and it might be just as well that he had been given three months leave.
    As he turned back towards the house, he saw a girl walking towards him, her hips swaying enticingly, and waited for her to come up to him. ‘Hello, Alice Robinson,’ he said, and grinned at her. She was wearing a pretty green dress and her softly waving hair was swinging loose above her collar. ‘And where are you off to this fine day?’
    â€˜I am going to catch the train into Cambridge,’ Alice told him shyly. ‘I’ve applied to be a Land Army girl and I’ve got to see someone there at two o’clock. My father says I’m better on the land than most of the girls he’s seen that other farmers have taken on – and he thinks if they take me on as a land girl I can work for him.’
    â€˜I’m not sure it is as easy as that,’ Daniel said. ‘They might decide to send you somewhere else. Henry was telling me he has two at the moment and he’s applying for more.’
    â€˜Maybe I’ll work for him then,’ Alice said brightly. She tipped her head to one side to look at him mischievously. ‘Want to come to Cambridge with me?’
    Daniel hesitated, then started to grin. ‘Yes, why not? I haven’t anything better to do.’
    â€˜Oh, if that’s your attitude,’ she chirped, but her eyes were dancing with laughter. ‘I thought you might take me to tea after my interview – and there’s a good film on in Cambridge.’
    â€˜You’re on,’ Daniel said, beginning to feel much better than he had for days. ‘We’ll have tea, go to