She had never seen such an expression of distaste on his face, not even when he’d found her creeping around the turret in the night.

‘But here’s what I don’t get,’ she said. ‘I get that she was trying to get her hooks into Freddie and that somehow he escaped her clutches. What I don’t get is what Freddie thought he was doing? You told me yourself he knew she was engaged to James. Why couldn’t he have chased after some unattached girl? Why flatter Bella so much that she ditched James, and then leave her in the lurch? That seems incredibly cruel to me.’

Henry made a rueful face. ‘All Freddie will have seen was the challenge of the forbidden fruit. He’s not deliberately cruel. Just immensely self-centred and depressingly vain. I think he’s never been properly in love with anyone but himself, so he has no notion of how much hurt he causes.’

‘What you’re saying is he never really gave a toss for Bella?’

‘Pretty much, yes. All he was looking for was a bit of fun to occupy his leave.’

‘So he led her on? Just for what he could get out of it?’ Now Cat was the one displaying disgust.

Henry nodded. ‘That’s my shitty big brother.’

‘I’d have to agree with that. I don’t think I’m ever going to like your brother, Henry. Even though he’s done my family a favour in a roundabout way. And I suppose Bella will survive because she’s not got much of a heart to break.’

‘And if she’d had a heart to break, she’d never have got tangled up with Freddie in the first place because she would have been too tender-hearted to dump James like that. I am sorry that Freddie is such a pig, though.’

‘You turned out very differently.’

Henry smiled. ‘Some people say I was my mother’s son, while Freddie takes after my father. I couldn’t possibly comment.’

Before Cat could pursue this, their colloquy was interrupted by the arrival of Ellie and the General, who kindly insisted on walking Cat down to the landing stage and giving her a lecture on the names and heights of all the hills that could be seen from that vantage point. By the time he had finished, it was time for lunch, a delicious collation of cold meats, salads, cheeses and assorted items from a local delicatessen whose produce the General particularly recommended to Cat. She imagined it would be extremely unlikely if she were ever to have the opportunity to patronise it, since it was almost five hundred miles from her home.

After lunch the General decided he needed a nap before driving back to Northanger, so the others walked out on the lawn once again, settling in a little gazebo with a view north up the loch.

‘So, Cat,’ Henry said, leaning back on the bench and stretching his legs out. ‘What are you going to do with your life?’

Cat was nonplussed. This question was normally the domain of her parents’ generation. ‘I don’t know,’ she said. ‘I was homeschooled so I don’t have any of the qualifications that get you to university. I’m not academic like James. He breezed through A-levels and Oxford entrance, but just reading the exam papers made my head swim.’

‘But you’re clearly not stupid,’ Henry said.

‘She’s just not academic,’ Ellie said firmly. ‘She’s a brilliant story-teller, Henry. Wait till you see the ideas she’s come up with for kids’ books. I’m going to illustrate them and we’re going to publish them online if we can’t get a proper publisher.’

Henry grinned. ‘I’ll shut up, then. You’ve clearly got it all worked out.’

‘I’m good with kids,’ Cat said. ‘I thought about becoming a nanny. But you need qualifications for that too. And I’m not sure how much I want to live in somebody else’s house.’

‘I guess we’ll just have to become the next Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler,’ Ellie said. ‘To save you from the fate worse than death of other people’s kids.’

‘So I suppose you’ll have to come back and visit us again?’ Henry said, looking pleased. ‘If you two are serious.’

‘Oh, we’re serious all right,’ Ellie said. ‘This might just be what it takes to persuade Father to let me go to art school.’

‘Good luck with that one,’ Henry said drily. ‘Now, who wants to walk down the shore to the ice-cream van?’

By the time they’d returned from their walk, the General was up and about and making a list for Henry of things that needed to be attended to at Woodston. ‘Are you not coming back with us?’ Cat asked. Fond as she was of Ellie, Northanger without Henry lacked a certain sparkle. And without him to keep her imagination in check, a certain menace.

‘My case resumes on Monday. Tomorrow, I have to visit my client in prison, so it’s not possible. But if we finish on Tuesday, as we’re supposed to, I’ll come back to Northanger for dinner.’

Before any further plans could be made, the General announced it was time to set off. ‘Your brother has returned to his regiment, I hear,’ he said as they strolled back to the car. ‘Cheeky boy should have stopped off to say goodbye.’

‘He was probably looking for more fun than Northanger could provide,’ Henry remarked. His father gave him a shrewd look but said nothing. And so, without further discussion, the visit was concluded and the young women settled down to enjoy their Internet access for as long as it took to reach the black spot that was Northanger Abbey.

29

Sunday turned out to offer more entertainment than Cat had expected. The General announced that they were invited to lunch by friends with a castle near Melrose. ‘There’s some sort of open-air drama in the grounds later that we have to stay for,’ he grumbled. ‘I hope I can sneak away and play billiards.’

The friends turned out to be a large extended family with plenty of conversation; the drama a double bill of Tom Stoppard plays hot from the Fringe. Cat’s only knowledge of his work had been the screenplay of Shakespeare in Love, so the evening turned out to be surprising in every respect.

It was late when they got back, the General grumbling even more because he had to be up early in the morning to catch a train to London. ‘Bloody MOD,’ he complained. ‘Why can’t they start meetings at a civilised time of day? I had enough of getting up in the middle of the night when I was in the army.’

‘Will you be gone long?’ Ellie asked.

‘I’ll stay at the club tomorrow night. See some old friends on Tuesday and head back in the evening.’

With the General gone, Cat’s pleasure in Northanger increased dramatically. She and Ellie did some work on their story ideas, then went for a walk, then sprawled on the sofas in the drawing room talking about the relative merits of Brad Pitt and Ryan Gosling. ‘This is such bliss,’ Ellie said when Mrs Calman brought them a trifle for afternoon tea. ‘Never leave, Cat. Stay here for ever and be my partner in crime.’ Mrs Calman harrumphed on her way out the door.

‘You’re so sweet. But I don’t want to overstay my welcome. I should probably think about going home.’ There was some truth in what Cat said; but there was also some underhandedness for, by testing the water, she hoped to win Ellie’s approval for a longer stay.

‘No way,’ Ellie protested. ‘Life here is so dull on my own. You have to keep me company a bit longer. Besides, it’s the Northanger Common Riding next Sunday. You’ve got to stay for that.’

‘Like in the photograph you showed me?’

‘Exactly. You Southerners have nothing to compare.’

‘Explain it to me properly.’

‘All the Borders towns and villages have something similar. Basically, all the local men get on horseback and ride the parish boundaries, or ride out to the nearby villages and raise a standard and have a drink then ride back. And then the whole town has a party. It’s sort of like a Spanish fiesta but with more drink and worse dancing. Our Common Riding starts off and finishes up here, so there’s lots of socialising and stuff. And if you go up to the top of the drive, you can see the riders all strung out across the landscape below. It’s quite a sight.’

‘Sounds like it. And it’ll be OK with your father if I stay on?’

‘Of course. He thinks you’re the bee’s knees. And Henry will be really chuffed too. Someone to show off his pretty riding to. Boss, in his world.’

Later, as they were leaving the upstairs sitting room to head for bed, they saw twin beams cut the darkness of the window, then heard the unmistakable sound of tyres on gravel. ‘Who can it be at this time of night?’ Ellie wondered. ‘Unless it’s Freddie. He’s always turning up at ridiculous times of the day or night.’

‘I thought he’d gone back to his regiment?’

‘Yes, but if they’re shipping out right away, he might have a twenty-four-hour leave. Oh, look, off you go to bed, I’ll sort him out.’

And so they parted on the landing, Ellie running downstairs and Cat hurrying to her room. The last thing she wanted was a midnight confrontation with Freddie Tilney. If he was here for a day, she didn’t see how she could avoid an encounter, and if they did meet, she didn’t see how she could avoid telling him what she thought of his behaviour. At least the General would not be there to witness her indulging in behaviour so inappropriate for a guest of the family.

Such were her thoughts as she got ready for bed and climbed beneath the covers. But Cat had barely picked up her book when she thought she heard a footstep in the corridor outside. Her heart leapt with anxiety. Was she imagining things? But no, for as she stared at the door, she saw the handle move a little. The idea of someone approaching so covertly made her pulse race. Was this the point where her wildest fears became a reality?

Telling herself not to be ridiculous, Cat slipped out of bed and tiptoed to the door. She gripped the handle, turned it swiftly and yanked the door open. To her amazement, Ellie was standing there, pale-faced and clearly agitated. ‘What’s the matter? Come in, tell me what’s wrong!’