In her hand she carried a paper bag filled with sugar lumps. Sweet Lass, the mare Gilbert had bought for her when she had learned to ride, was in foal and her time was near. Sarah visited her whenever she could, bringing her little treats such as the sugar lumps which she bought from the village shop since Bertha had complained about her helping herself to the ones she kept in the kitchen. As she passed the windows of the house she looked in nervously but saw no-one and the quick beat of her heart steadied a little. No sign of Alicia or Leo, and more importantly no sign of Hugh. Since that afternoon, three weeks ago now, when she and Hugh had taken the Rolls to Bury Woods she had avoided him whenever she could but still he sought her out and the confusion in her emotions was such that she both dreaded the encounters and yet was strangely disappointed when they did not occur. Why she should feel this disappointment Sarah could not imagine.
