Alarmed that this was another of Kate’s sleepwalking activities, I jumped out of bed and opened the door to see a dim figure emerging from Hubert’s room. It was Collins, shouting at him angrily and tearfully, for all the house to hear. The door banged shut behind her and I heard her footsteps marching past my room. There had obviously been a bitter quarrel, there was no doubt about that. I hoped that I was not the cause, and that Hubert had not told her that he had asked me to marry him. Eventually I got to sleep again but awoke feeling weary, and went downstairs to my usual solitary breakfast in the dining room. When Mrs Robson bustled in to greet me with porridge, toast and a pot of tea, I wondered if she would be offended by a suggestion that I ate in the kitchen on the occasions when I was alone. Setting down the tray before me, she said, ‘A message from Sir. Miss Kate is not to have Thane today; Mr Rider has requested that he stays with him – something to do with this cattle business and the new calf they are all so excited about.’ She sounded faintly disgusted.
