Chapter One
1870Fiona chopped up the herbs on the table in front of her until they were very small and then put them in a pan of water and set it on the old range which had been cleaned and polished until it looked comparatively new.
Everything in the kitchen seemed to shine, in spite of the fact that the room was old-fashioned with heavy beams across the ceiling.
These were hung with a large bunch of onions, a ham and in the corner a duck that had been shot yesterday by one of the neighbouring farmers.
“I’ve brought you this, Miss Windham,” he had said to Fiona in a somewhat embarrassed manner, “as I thinks it’d make a nice meal for the little ’un.”
“Thank you very much, Mr. Jarvis,” Fiona had replied, knowing that his consideration was not for Mary-Rose but for herself.
She was wel
