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‘Don’t think much of my handiwork, then?’ Rex asked mockingly, then as Davina glanced up, ‘Of course it’s safe. But if it were not, it wouldn’t matter a cuss. Tapper here is merely trying to make friends.’

‘Is that his name?’

‘He hasn’t got a name. Are you suggesting I christen them?’ There was a note of wicked amusement in Rex’s soft drawl and Davina straightened to meet his eyes.

‘You’re laughing at me,’ she accused him sulkily, shaken by the look in his eyes as leaning nonchalantly on the top bar of the pen he gazed down at her from his impressive height.

‘I was just imagining the look on my uncle’s face if we attempted to put names to all our stock,’ he said by way of explanation. ‘But you’re welcome to call these two what you like if that will make you happy.’

Feeling incredibly foolish, Davina attempted to dodge the issue, wishing that his nearness did not make her heartbeats quicken. ‘Does your uncle live with you?’

‘Rather say I live with him. He and my father were twins. When Dad died I was only ten and Uncle Lionel brought me up. Taught me all I know about running a station. I inherited Dad’s share, so we’re co-owners of the property and live in the one house.’

It was the nearest Rex had come to revealing anything about his family and it took Davina by surprise. Before she could reply, however, the sound of a car in the yard made Rex’s head jerk up and with a ‘Who the devil can this be?’ he strode out of the barn.

Following on, Davina reached the door in time to see a figure emerge from the large, somewhat battered station wagon which stood in the cobbled yard. The man was about Rex’s age or perhaps a little younger, Davina decided, as she caught sight of a thatch of silver-blond hair. He was wearing stained corduroy trousers, Wellington boots and a torn cotton sweat shirt marked here and there with what looked remarkably like dried blood.

Advancing towards Rex, he held out his hand. ‘Fitzpaine?' at Rex’s nod he said, ‘You left a message at my surgery. Name’s Jim Thomas. What’s the trouble?’

‘None so far,’ Rex answered, shaking the vet’s hand. ‘You must have received a wrong message. I simply left my name and said I’d like you to come and cast an eye over my ewes when they arrive on Monday. I’m afraid you’ve had a wasted journey.’

Jim Thomas’s eyes were looking past Rex at Davina and he said slowly, ‘I wouldn’t say that. The village has been agog since we heard Nineveh had been sold at last. Do you and your sister know many people in the area?’

There was a very dry note in Rex’s voice as he replied, ‘No one, unless you count old Farr who will be shepherding for me,’ and Davina felt a blush beginning as Jim Thomas walked over and shook her by the hand.

‘Welcome to the district, then. We can do with a few new faces. And since you haven’t friends in the district, how about coming over to my place Sunday evening? My sister is staying with me at the moment and I fear she finds the country a bit boring after London. Sunday I’m not on call, so I decided to throw a bit of a binge for her. The house is about a mile the other side of the village. You’ll hear the dogs barking, so you can’t miss it.’

Davina had got her feelings of guilt under control by the time he finished, but she gave Rex a reproachful glance. He’d started this ‘sister* story and while it seemed he had done so with the best of intentions, she hated sailing under false colours. In any case, was it really necessary? People were so much more broadminded in this day and age.

But he obviously had no intention of setting the record straight. With a, ‘Thanks, we’d like to,’ he began to fix a time for the vet to call the following week and Davina, seeing they were for the moment too engrossed to notice, slipped away to get on with her household chores. During supper, she would have liked to challenge Rex’s right to accept an invitation on her behalf without bothering to consult her wishes, but she had learned enough about him now to realise it would get her nowhere. He had an unhappy knack of getting the better of her in an argument.

After supper, she fetched her writing materials and putting them at the end of the long table began to draft out her ideas for a story. Rex had made himself comfortable in a chair beside the fire and was reading a farming journal—as if, Davina thought ruefully, they really were brother and sister. Or long-married husband and wife, her mind ran on, and the pen in her hand faltered. What could have put that idea in her head? He had, of course, she admitted to herself, and sighed for it had been unintentional. So far he had treated her with the utmost propriety. Not so much as the hint of a pass, she thought dolefully as she applied herself once more to the work in hand.

But as if he sensed her innermost thoughts, half an hour later Rex got to his feet and wandered round the table to look over her shoulder. When she turned her head, Davina found his eyes only inches away.

‘You’ve done enough for one evening. Bed for you, my girl.’ There was kindness in the softly drawled order and something more in the usually hard eyes. They were smiling beguilingly into her own and Davina drew in her breath as he straightened.

‘I’ll make the tea. Fancy a cup?’

Her hands trembling, Davina gathered her papers together, willing her voice to remain calm. ‘Not tonight. See you in the morning,’ and she made her escape. She was afraid to admit even to herself what was happening to her. Infuriating, arrogant, tyrannical even at times—yes, Rex Fitzpaine was all of those. He was also irresistibly attractive in large doses.

But the following morning when she asked innocently, ‘What will you want with a horse?’ Rex’s voice held only impatience as he snapped, ‘What most horsemen want—to ride, of course. I’ve never worked a dog, so I shall need a horse to muster. Or did you think I could drive the Land Rover over hill pastures if one of the flock goes missing?’

What was it with him? Davina wondered as she blinked in surprise. He could be all sweetness one minute, barely polite to her the next. She murmured a barely intelligible excuse which made Rex smile down at her grimly. ‘I told you you’d a lot to learn,’ was his parting shot as he departed, and ten minutes later Davina saw him ride up the track behind the farm where the ground rose steeply.

It was a warm day, and she left the doors open before she went upstairs to get on with the painting. When she came down again to prepare lunch a small black cat was curled up in front of the fire.

It rose and began to purr as she asked it, ‘Now where have you come from?’ Glass green eyes surveyed her approvingly as she informed it, ‘Now I like cats and don’t mind a bit that you’ve made yourself so much at home, but I doubt whether the lord and master will agree.’

Her supposition turned out to be only too correct. When Rex came in he spotted the intruder immediately and his order was terse and to the point—‘Don’t feed that thing, otherwise we’ll be saddled with it for good,’ as he went through to wash.

When the bathroom door closed behind him, Davina’s eyes began to smoulder with anger. Insufferable man! If she had deliberately brought the cat in herself he couldn’t have been more intolerant. She replied in monosyllables to his efforts at conversation during lunch until Rex in long-suffering tones asked, ‘Now what’s eating you?’

Davina’s brown eyes flashed sparks. ‘As if you didn’t know 1 What harm can one small cat do to you?’

‘None that I know of, but he must belong to someone and has probably been missed by now. As for doing me harm, the boot’s rather on the other foot. Have you considered what will happen to the poor animal when we leave here?’

A conscience-stricken look replaced the anger in Davina’s eyes. ‘I never thought of that.’ She glanced over to where the little cat was busily washing itself. ‘Do you really think he belongs to someone and isn’t just a stray?’

‘Use your head. Does he look like a stray?* Rex asked sarcastically, and Davina had no answer—the sleek, well-fed look on the cat’s face was answer enough. ‘I shall be going down to the local this evening so I’ll ask around,’ Rex told her. ‘Meantime, put him out. He might go home.’

The wind had freshened and the cat stood looking forlorn when Davina carried him outside with a, ‘Well, I warned you, Puss. You’ll have to go, I’m afraid.' Even the approving, 'I'm glad to see you took my advice,’ from Rex did not entirely ease her conscience, for by supper time it had begun to rain. When he went out with a casual, ‘Don’t wait up,’ thrown over his shoulder, Davina crept out and searched the yard, but the cat was nowhere to be seen. Pushing disappointment that Rex had not thought fit to ask her to join him to the back of her mind, she took the small portable typewriter out of her trunk and began a rough outline of her short story from last night’s notes.

She worked doggedly on for more than three hours, then spun out more time by taking a leisurely bath. But she had been in bed some time before sounds in the kitchen warned her of Rex’s return and she finally fell asleep wondering where he could have been until this late hour.

She got up next morning determined to ask no questions, thereby risking one of Rex’s quelling replies. But her curiosity was to be satisfied none the less. She had finished decorating the bedrooms during the morning and had begun preparing the midday meal when she noticed the coal bucket was empty. Coming out of the shed into the yard, a loaded bucket in one hand and carrying an armful of logs, Davina was surprised to see a red two-seater sports car approaching at speed and stood rooted to the spot as it stopped with a shriek of brakes almost a yard away and a tall blonde stepped out from behind the wheel.

‘Rex anywhere about?’

Davina, taking in the long curling hair, sea green eyes and superbly tailored slack suit, found her tongue curling into knots. There was more than a hint of impatience on the madonna-like features of the unexpected visitor as she said, ‘I imagine you must be Davina. Rex spoke about you when Jim brought him up to the house last night. I’m Jim’s sister, by the way, Adele Wickham.’

Supremely aware of looking like the poor relation in paint-stained jeans with hands covered in coal dust, Davina was about to reply when both girls heard the clip-clop of hooves, and Rex appeared on the moorland track. Adele, ignoring Davina, walked swiftly forward and was at his stirrup by the time the chestnut horse reached the farm yard.

Her greeting was very different from that which she had accorded Davina. A hand reached up to fondle his leg and, head tilted, the blonde girl invited, ‘I’m at a loose end. Take me to lunch?’

Rex looked down, but his hooded lids hid from Davina what he was thinking. For a second he sat motionless, then leaning, he detached the hand caressing his knee, bowed to kiss it and as Adele’s lips curled with satisfaction he was out of the saddle and tying the horse to the fence.

Davina’s lips were also curling, but in derision as she watched the touching scene, and glancing across the yard, Rex caught the look of disgust she had no time to hide. He gave a small smile before turning to answer the blatant invitation.

‘Sorry, I’m a working man. Simply can’t spare the time during the day.’ Then as Adele’s lips parted he went on, ‘I see you and Davina have got acquainted. Let me see, we’re invited to a party in your honour on Sunday. Isn’t that right?’ It was obvious that Adele Wickham was not used to having her invitations so summarily turned down. She said sulkily, ‘Yes, Jim’s got the idea that a country get-together is my idea of a good time. He forgets I’m used now to something more exciting than one of his housekeeper’s hotpots washed down with red plonk. But I thought we’d get acquainted before then. Just you and I,’ she added, giving Davina a disparaging glance. ‘If I know Jim, he’ll have invited all his old school chums and will expect me to do the pretty with all of them.’ Rex gave her one of his disarming smiles. ‘I’m sure it won’t be impossible to cut you out of the mob. After all, I’m used to that.’ He took her arm and turned her towards the red sports car. ‘Sunday will give me .. .’ he paused as if by accident... ‘us, something to look forward to.’

Adele was all smiles again. She slid into the driving seat and held out her hand again, giving a theatrical sigh. ‘Sunday it is, then. Rex ...’ she stopped and looked up seductively, ‘it will seem a lifetime.’

Trying to hide her laughter, Davina turned and hurried indoors. As she made up the fire, the car started up and then she heard it disappearing into the distance. There was the sound of hooves as Rex took the horse back to its stall and then silence until he suddenly appeared in the kitchen doorway.

Davina looked up from the sink. ‘Sorry nothing’s ready, but I’ve been finishing the painting. I’ll have your meal on the table in ten minutes.’

He pulled out a chair and began rolling a cigarette. 'I'm in no hurry,’ and as Davina’s eyes widened he seemed to guess where her mind had wandered, for with a smile curling up one corner of his firm lips he asked, ‘What did you think of her?’

‘I’ve rarely seen a lovelier girl, and her clothes ... ! I suspect Hardy Amies at least.’

‘That wasn’t what I asked you.’ Rex put his cigarette into his mouth and applied a match.

‘We only exchanged a couple of sentences before you arrived. It would be unfair to make a snap judgment,’ Davina replied hastily, and went to fetch what she needed from the walk-in larder before her unruly tongue ran away with her.

Half way through their meal, she suddenly became aware that Rex was looking at her with undoubted amusement in his keen eyes and she gave him a questioning glance.

‘Is it the latest fashion to go around with white spots all over your face,’ he asked, ‘or merely just your personal preference?’

Davina put a hand up and felt the rough places where paint must have splashed down when she was painting the bedroom ceilings. ‘Oh, bother! I never thought to look in a mirror.’ Her eyes widened in horror. ‘What must that girl-friend of yours have thought?’

‘The description doesn’t fit. I only met her for the first time last night,’ Rex drawled, then his eyes fastened on her face as Davina muttered unwisely, ‘You could have fooled me I’

‘So you did make a snap judgment after all.’ His words bit as they were intended to do and Davina flushed vividly, wishing this man was not so quick off the trigger. He was always needling her into losing her cool, and the fact that she knew she was looking the complete opposite of the elegant girl who had called at the farm did nothing to bolster her self-confidence.