'I've given Mrs Cameron the afternoon off, so we're quite alone. I wasn't too sure if you would want to do anything today or if you just wanted to sit and talk,' Jane said a little awkwardly, as she and Jess sat together in the sitting room.

'Well, I thought we could, perhaps, go for a walk and that you might show me the house and gardens and things,' Jess replied, a little shyly. For all of their excitement that they had felt beforehand, now that they were alone together, neither knew exactly what to say or do.

'I think that would be lovely. Shall we go outside first? Whilst it is still a nice afternoon?' Jane asked as she got up from the sofa and walked towards the front door, where her wellies sat, covered in mud, which made Jess smile a bit. Maybe Jane wasn't quite the Lady that she had thought, just as Lovejoy had said.

Jane, kicked off her comfortable slip on shoes and put the wellies on, after putting on her thick wellie socks. Jess smiled at how down to earth Jane looked today, wearing jeans and a simple, light coloured jumper. Previously she had only seen Jane wearing her nicely tailored suits and designer shoes; but this change, which seemed to come quite naturally to Jane, was a welcome one and made Jess feel more comfortable about her own appearance, which was toned down a little from when she had last been in Felsham Hall, but still carried her quirky personality.

Today she wore a plain pair of denim dungarees, with a tie-dyed t-shirt on underneath and her long hair loose around her shoulders, with earrings in the shape of cats, wearing a berry and holding a paint pallet. This matched the necklace she was wearing, which also featured a berry wearing, pallet holding cat, surrounded by another paint pallet, an easel with a painting and a couple of paint brushes. Her individuality made Jane smile and she was delighted to see that other people's opinions didn't seem to matter to her.

'Would you like a pair? It's nice out today, but we have had some rain in the last couple of days, so it is rather muddy outside,' Jane said.

'If you have another pair, I wouldn't mind,' Jess beamed.

'What shoe size are you?'

'A six or a seven, depending on the shoe really,'

'Perfect; I'm a six too, so these should fit you without difficulty,' Jane said as she pulled open a closet door and found an older pair of purple boots that she rarely used. 'You can keep those,' she added.

'Thanks!' Jess replied and already, just like that, the awkwardness that had been between them was gone.

Outside the sun was just as hot as ever. Jane had on, what Lovejoy called, her signature red sunglasses, whilst Jess, naturally, wore a pair that was bright yellow. Jane's two dogs ran through the trees that sat at the back of Felsham hall and jumped in and out of the tall grass and foliage, whilst the two women sauntered behind them, chatting and gossiping, almost as if they'd done it all of their lives.

'Ruthie and Monty know this route better than anyone, we've walked it that often, I think we could walk it in our sleep,' Jane laughed.

'Toby's walk isn't quite as nice as this one; usually it's just a couple of times around the playing field at the back of our house and through the play park,' Jess replied.

'Have you always lived there?'

'Only since Dad died; before that we lived in the barracks, somewhere in Kent if I remember correctly,' Jess explained. 'I don't have too many memories of us living there though, one or two perhaps; like the Christmas party that they held for the children on Christmas Eve and the summer barbeques, we used to have a lovely time together really. Do you do anything like that here?'

'Oh well, there are the spring and summer fetes in the village and I often have an event at the house, although, I don't think I've ever had a barbeque; perhaps we could have one?' Jane asked enthusiastically and was delighted by the beaming smile she received from Jess.

'Oh can we? We could invite Lovejoy, Eric and Tinker,' Jess replied.

'I think that would be lovely; we could have it as a "welcome to Felsham" celebration for you, if you'd like,' Jane said with a smile that reciprocated Jess's.

'Would you really do that just for me?'

'Yes of course, it would be my absolute pleasure,' Jane smiled before her brow creased. 'Jess, I know that we will only ever be friends and that you were obviously very close to your parents and I am very glad of that, truly I am; but I am so happy to have you are here with me now, knowing that you want to be a part of my life, regardless of what capacity that is in. I really want to celebrate that with you and introduce you to a few of my friends,' she explained proudly. 'Wait a minute; did you mention Eric and Tinker? Have you already met them?'

'Yeah I met them earlier, when I went to Lovejoy's; actually, I had met Eric when I was here before. Lovejoy had let the air out of Betty's tyres so that I couldn't leave and Eric helped me to blow them up again,' Jess laughed.

'Well, I still think it would be lovely to have a barbeque, this weekend perhaps. Lovejoy can do it, he loves doing that sort of thing. What do you think?'

'I think it would be great. Could I invite Allison? She's dying to meet you and everyone else and I'd love for you to meet her too,' Jess explained.

'Yes of course you can Jess, I'd love to meet her,' Jane replied with a smile, which faltered slightly as she tried to form the words to her next question. 'Does Allison know who I am?' She asked tentatively.

'You mean, have I told her you're my biological mother?'

Jane nodded, 'yes; it's fine if you haven't told her, but I was just wondering how much she knows.'

'She knows; she was the first person I turned to when I discovered my papers and everything and she tried to talk me out of coming up the first time I came,' Jess explained.

'Have you known her long?'

'Almost all of my life. We met in our first year of school; she was being picked on by a couple of boys and I saw them pushing her around. I can't stand that sort of thing, so I went up to them, clobbered them with my lunch box, which smashed the front and broke the handle, and they ran off crying and Allison and I became lifelong friends,' Jess laughed as she recalled the first meeting with her best friend. 'I was so worried about what Mum would say when I got home, that Allison and I came up with this whole story as we walked round the playground, then, when Mum came to pick me up, I couldn't lie to her, burst into tears and told her the truth. I didn't get a telling off as such, but she wasn't exactly pleased about it. A couple of years ago she told me that she didn't know whether to feel proud or worried. I think my fiery temper used to infuriate her sometimes; she was never like that. She was always calm and it would take a lot to truly piss her off.' It was the first time, since her mum's death, that she felt able to share a memory that wasn't full of sadness afterwards.

'Well I can't wait to meet Allison,' Jane replied with a smile.

'So, tell me about Felsham Hall; did you always have a title before you came here?' Jess enquired, genuinely interested to learn about Jane's heritage, which was as much hers now.

'I had an honorary title before I married Alexander, but I have always belonged to the aristocracy. My parents held the title of Lord and Lady Derbyshire, although, when my father passed away a few years ago, the title passed to my cousin, Michael. That title isn't as old as Felsham though. The house and almost half of Suffolk have belonged to the Felsham family for almost four hundred years, but the current house isn't as old as that,' Jane explained.

'Oh, I see; I'm sorry about your dad, but your mum is still alive?'

'Yes, she's still alive; she now lives in Norfolk, closer to my sister, Prue. Neither of them know anything about you I'm afraid, I am sorry. Alexander insisted that no one else was to know...' Jane said quietly, before trailing off again and the awkward silence descended between them again, as they stopped in the middle of the trees and turned to face each other. Jane's eyes glistened as she thought about her actions and Jess's were burning with tears of anger once more.

'Jane, if I ask you something, will you give me an honest answer?'

'If I can, yes,'

'Why did you let Alexander manipulate you into giving me up? Why are you still with him, when you've made it so clear that you love and wanted me?' Jess asked tearfully.

Jane didn't reply straight away, but turned and began to walk towards her dogs as she tried to think of the answer she was going to give and Jess slowly followed beside her.

'He didn't manipulate me Jess; I just didn't take his feelings into consideration before I became pregnant. I never asked him about having children, I just assumed that he would want them and he assumed that I wouldn't. We wanted different things, but we wanted each other desperately and it wasn't fair for you to grow up without a mother and a father,' Jane said and it still annoyed Jess that Jane was defending Alexander, again, and still couldn't see that he had manipulated her.

Their silence grew more awkward as they walked a few steps further. There was so much Jess wanted to say, she wanted to let Jane know exactly how much she was still hurting by her actions, but, at the same time, she didn't want to hurt Jane. They continued to walk in silence, which began to become oppressive with every step they took.

'I'm sorry Jane, I didn't mean to offend you; I do want to build a friendship with you, but you have got to understand that I'm still getting my head around all this and there's still plenty that I'm trying to understand,' Jess explained with frustration.

Jane stopped again and allowed a few tears to run down her cheeks; she hadn't meant to sound so harsh and blushed with shame at her own words. She turned towards her daughter, 'you don't need to apologise Jess; I can't possibly imagine what you've been through in the last few months and I realise that it's partly been at my hands,' she replied apologetically.

They didn't say anything else for a long while, as they walked through the trees, until the path became wider and opened out onto the lawn of Felsham Hall. Jess though carefully about how she could move their conversation back onto comfortable territory as she then came face to face with Felsham Hall.

'It really is a beautiful house,' Jess said as she stared up at, what was effectively, her new home. 'I can't believe it's where I was born.'

'Well, I do hope that you can think of it as your home; you're welcome here for as long as you like,' Jane said and felt stunned to feel Jess thread her arm through hers.

'Thanks,' Jess beamed. 'It really is a lovely place; I can't wait to start painting. I'll take my camera for a walk later in the week, get some pictures I can paint from,' she explained before her face crumpled with disappointment.

'What is it?'

'I forgot that I haven't got a studio,' she replied.

'Oh don't worry about that; I'll clear one of the spare rooms and you can paint until your heart is content,' Jane said

'I couldn't ask you to do that; besides, I might get paint on your carpets or on the walls, knowing me probably both. I wouldn't want to ruin your home,' Jess grimaced.

'You can let me worry about that and believe me, this house has had far worse spilt on it, Jane laughed as she guided Jess through the beautifully landscaped garden.

'This garden is stunning; do you do any of it yourself?'

'I quite enjoy gardening, although it's far too big for me to do it all myself, so I have a small area over here,' Jane explained as she led Jess away from the house and towards a small greenhouse and planted area. It was full of bright flowers, lilies, orchids and roses.

'Jane it's beautiful!' Jess said with delight as she allowed the scent to fill her senses.

'Thank you, it's one way I like to escape,' Jane smiled, which faltered slightly as she sat on a bench hidden between some plants and Jess sat next to her. 'I don't pretend to know how you must feel Jess and can't imagine what it must be like, to lose both your parents so young and to discover you were adopted. I am truly sorry for the pain that I have caused you; but please believe me when I say that I do love you and I only ever wanted what was best for you. However, I really hope that you can talk to me, regardless of what your thoughts may be, I really want us to be able to talk to each other.'

Jess looked tearfully at Jane, as she tried to find the words to say to her. There was so much that she wanted to tell her, so much she wanted to convey, but the last thing that she wanted to do was hurt her.

'I do want us to be friends Jane and I do want to get to know you; the thing is, well some days I'm absolutely fine, then something happens and I think about Mum and then I get sad and then I think about you and...I don't know...there's still so much that I don't understand,' Jess explained calmly, but tearfully.

'I don't really know what to say,' Jane replied as she gently placed her arms around Jess's shoulders. Jess rested her head against Jane's chest and allowed herself to cry. The two women sobbed for a while, with each comforting the other; it seemed that they were crying for their own pain as well as each other's.

'Wow, this isn't exactly how I wanted our first day to go,' Jess said with a muffled voice into Jane's shoulder.

'I'm so sorry Jess, I didn't want to upset you; I do want you to feel that you can talk to me, about anything that's on your mind,' Jane said as she brushed a tendril of Jess's hair from her face. 'I need you to know that your happiness is more important to me than anything else, so if you're not happy, then I need to know.' Jess smiled weakly at her and brushed a few stray tears from her own face, before composing herself. She took a deep breath and allowed herself a few minutes to relax.

'Maybe we could start over?' She suggested as she held tightly onto Jane's hands.

'I tell you what, why don't we go inside and I'll make us a cup of tea and I'll let you order a take-away; how does that sound?' Jane said as she wiped away her own tears.

'Alright,' Jess replied with a broad smile as they then walked back towards the house.

Later that night, Jane sat on the floor in the sitting room with Jess, in front of the roaring fire, their foil trays placed on the coffee table and a bottle of wine between them. The atmosphere was relaxed as they chatted about each other, their earlier painful words quite forgotten.

'So what were you like at school?' Jane asked as she took a sip of her cabernet sauvignon.

'I did alright I suppose; I was better at the creative subjects rather than the academic ones, although I was good at history, science and English. They were three of my favourite subjects,' Jess explained in between mouthfuls of her takeaway. 'I bet you were really good at school.'

'I was very good at languages and loved history and English too, but I wasn't very good at sport. I did play hockey for the school team though and I was a prefect in my latter years, then head girl in my last year,' Jane said proudly.

'I left school as soon as I could, so I never made it to be a prefect.'

'Did you not want to do your O levels or A levels?'

'I might have done had Mum not fallen ill. She needed quite a bit of care and I knew I didn't have much longer with her; sometimes, certain things are more important than exam marks aren't they?'

'Absolutely; but I'm sure your mother was very proud of you, I know that I am,' Jane replied with a proud smile.

'Thanks,' Jess smiled at the thought of making Jane proud of her. 'I know Mum worried about me a lot before she died, about my career choice; but she knew art is my life and I was never happier than when painting. Much like your gardening, painting is my escape. It was one of the only things that made Mum's illness bearable sometimes.'

'I do understand some of your pain; my father had bowl cancer.'

'I'm sorry, but it's nice to know that I'm not on my own. 'Nother glass of wine?' Jess asked as she held up the already half empty bottle.

'Go on, why not?' Jane replied as she held out her glass.

By half past nine, the sky outside was now a murky, dark blue. Jane and Jess were now half way through their second bottle, when Lovejoy arrived with Toby and Jess's cases and received the surprise of his life.

He walked straight into the living room, where Toby ran in, delighted to find his owner, whom he greeted with a swift lick to the face and an excited bark. Lovejoy smiled as he heard Jess giggle with delight and then he saw the empty bottle and a half of red wine sat on Jane's coffee table, the empty cartons of Chinese takeaway and Jane sitting on the floor. Yep, there was no doubt about it, Jane was more relaxed now than she ever had been before and seemed to be embracing her relationship with Jess more than he had thought possible. It made him wonder if he was only now getting to see the real Jane.

'Hello Lovejoy, would you like a drink?' She asked, her words only ever so slightly slurred from the numbness of her tongue.

'Well you two seem to be having a good time with each other, so I wouldn't want to interrupt,' he said.

'Oh nonsense Lovejoy; since when have you ever passed on the opportunity for a fun time,' Jane replied and Jess giggled.

'You should join us before Jane has the chance to finish the rest of the bottle,' she laughed.

'Oh don't you worry about Janey; it isn't the first time she's finished off a whole bottle, is it dear?' He replied with a broad, mischievous grin.

'It's usually only because of your bad influence Lovejoy,' she replied with narrow eyes, which made Lovejoy and Jess laugh all the more.

The rest of their evening passed in a blur of laughter and storytelling, as they each shared tales of the other. Jess was beginning to feel a lot more relaxed and she was starting to see a side to Jane that she had not expected. Lovejoy was right about her not being the Lady everyone expected.

Eventually they all parted for bed, with Lovejoy passing out on the sofa and Jane and Jess retiring to their respective bedrooms. As she laid back against the large, squishy pillows, Jess thought about how different this large, spacious bedroom was in comparison to her room in Somerset Close. It had an en-suit bathroom and large four-poster bed, something she had always dreamed of having as a child, and massive built in wardrobes. In the morning, I'll have a proper look round, she thought, as she then allowed herself to drift off to sleep.

Down the hall, Jane was laid in her bed and felt truly at peace for the first time in twenty years. It was the first night where she wasn't constantly wondering where Jess was and if she was safe. She knew, now, where she was, she knew that her welfare was good and she knew that she was relatively happy; now all she had to do was to build on their friendship. She drifted off into the best night's sleep she had had in a long time, smiling happily and having pleasant dreams of her and her daughter.

When the morning dawned Jess glanced at her watch on the bedside cabinet; seven o'clock. She loved to be up early, but it was a rare occurrence for her to wake naturally, as it was usually Toby who woke her; so she was dismayed to realise that her door was slightly ajar and that there was no sign of her beloved pet.

On realising that he was missing, she sprang out of bed and went in search of him, but having had no time to be shown where everything was the previous night, she soon became disorientated. She also didn't want to wake Jane if she could avoid it, afraid of what Toby may have done and afraid of angering Jane, especially since their previous night had gone so well. She called out his name as quietly as she could, but there was no sign of him upstairs and all the doors were firmly closed; so she quietly crept downstairs, where she was met with a myriad of corridors and doors, something that she hadn't previously paid attention to.

'Toby, I could really curse you right now,' she whispered to herself as she chose a corridor to go down, which only had two doors at the end of it, but to know prevail as all of the doors were closed. She turned round as was about to go down one of the other corridors when she heard a loud scream towards the back of the house. She ran to where she had heard the sound and found her way into a room, where Toby was cowering in a corner, snarling his teeth and Mrs Cameron standing in the middle of the room. 'Toby, there you are!' She said with blessed relief, but succeeded in startling the housekeeper again, who let out another loud scream.

'Who are you and what is THIS doing here?' She said with a disgusted tone as she pointed at the little dog, who instantly ran to Jess and she scooped him up lovingly, just as they were joined by a half dressed Lovejoy.

'What the hell is going on here?' He asked, clearly confused at having been woken by the commotion.

'Mr Lovejoy, I should have known this would have had something to do with you!' Mrs Cameron chastised and looked him up and down, coming to her own, wrong, conclusions as to why his clothes were in a state of disarray.

'I haven't the foggiest as to what you are on about; I was asleep and was woken by you wailing like a banshee!'

'What on earth is going on in here?' Jane exclaimed as she rushed in, still tying her dressing gown together and Toby gave a little whine.

'Lady Felsham; I came in here to do some cleaning before I started on breakfast and found this animal, sleeping in your chair,' Mrs Cameron explained as she then looked from Jane to Lovejoy and Jane knew exactly what it was the housekeeper was accusing her of, without the older woman evening having to say it.

'I see, Mrs Cameron; well Toby here is Miss Carter's dog and Miss Carter is going to be my guest for a while. You may remember meeting her a few weeks ago,'

'She's my niece,' Lovejoy interrupted, trying to derail Mrs Cameron's train of thought, as he could also see where her mind was taking her.

'She's going to stay with me whilst she is visiting her uncle,' Jane finished explaining.

'I see; well would you like me to go ahead with my cleaning?' Mrs Cameron replied sniffily.

'No thank you Mrs Cameron; if you wouldn't mind starting on breakfast for us,' Jane said as she dismissed the housekeeper and waited until she was out of the room and out of earshot before she spoke again. 'I'm sorry about that Jess.'

'No it's my fault Jane; I should have kept a better eye on him, I'm terribly sorry,' Jess replied as she still hung on tightly to Toby and kissed him on the head.

'There's no harm done; the poor little thing probably wanted to explore and got lost. Isn't that right Toby?' Jane asked the young dog affectionately as she rubbed him behind the ear and he cocked his head at her in response, panting with excitement.

'So where are we?' Jess asked as she looked around the large, bright, spacious room, filled with drawing boards, portfolios and other drawing implements.

'Oh this is my study; it's where I do most of my working drawings for my clients,' Jane explained proudly as Jess looked at some of her work.

'These are really good Jane,' she said as she lifted a working example of a mural that Jane had once planned for a client, which, sadly, was never used. 'I can see where I get my artistic talent from,' she added casually, which surprised both Jane and Lovejoy; neither of them had expected her to refer, whether directly or indirectly, to her natural parentage.

'Thank you,' Jane replied simply, with a large, bemused smile. 'Shall we go and recuperate in the sitting room? I'll get Mrs Cameron to make us some tea before breakfast.'

'Do you think she's going to be problematic for us Jane? I mean, she doesn't exactly hide her dislike for me, does she? And maybe it's a bit odd that Lovejoy's niece is staying with you as opposed to him,' Jess worried.

'You don't need to worry about that Jess; it's none of her business who I choose to have as my guest, or why they are staying; I pay her to cook and clean, that's it,' Jane replied, although she feared that her tone may have made her sound snobbish. 'I'm sorry if that sounds terribly upper class of me, but I will not have my life ruled by her or anyone else,' she said, and added under her breath, 'not anymore.' Clearly it was the dawning of a new age for Jane and in such a short space of time, Lovejoy had noticed a massive change in his friend.

The three of them sat together again, as they had done the previous night and Jess couldn't miss the way Lovejoy and Jane would look at each other, which made her question if there wasn't more to their friendship or, at least, the way they felt about each other.

After breakfast, Lovejoy stretched loudly and grabbed his leather jacket from the back of the sofa in the sitting room, where he had thrown it the night before. He felt rather reluctant to leave, as he was enjoying the company he was with and watching this new Janey unfold; but work was beckoning him if he was to go on eating.

'So where are you going today?' Jane asked him as she walked him to the door.

'There's an auction in Bury-St-Edmonds that Tinker and I thought we might attend,' he replied with a slightly knowing look in her direction.

'Oh yes and how do you propose to pay for these items?' Jane replied with a playful twist of her mouth.

'Janey, who said anything about buying? I'm merely going for a look,' he replied, feigning innocence.

'How much do you need Lovejoy?' She replied with a semi-serious tone.

'About two and a half should cover it,' he said with a mischievous grin, just as they were joined by Jess.

'Can we go along too Jane? I've never been to an auction before. Unless you had other plans for us?' She asked.

'Not at all; so if that is what you really want to do, I'll be more than happy with that,' Jane smiled as she went off to her study to get Lovejoy his money. 'I do want this back eventually you know Lovejoy,' she said on her return.

'Janey when have I ever let you down?' He replied as he placed a gentle kiss to her cheek and then winked at Jess, before rushing out to Miriam.

'Well then, I suppose I had better go upstairs and change,' Jane said as she looked at herself in the mirror and smiled at the fact she was still in her nightdress, something that she never usually did.

'You don't mind us going to the auction do you?' Jess asked as they walked up the stairs together.

'Not in the least; I quite like a Saturday morning auction as they're not usually as busy as during the week days and sometimes you can pick up a real gem.'

'Do you go to the auctions with Lovejoy often?'

'Quite often, usually to pay for him,' Jane said with a laugh, 'but I quite enjoy them myself and it's a good way to get furniture for my clients.'

Jess smiled wildly with excitement at the thought of spending the day with Jane and Lovejoy, doing something that they loved and for her to try something new; so it didn't take either of them especially long to get ready and to be at the range rover and ready to leave.

'Have you got everything?' Jane asked as she threw her keys into her bag.

'Yes I think so. Are you sure about leaving Toby in the kitchen on his own? I don't want him to wreck anything,' Jess replied as she bit her bottom lip with concern.

'I'm sure he'll be absolutely fine and I don't want you to worry about anything whilst you are here you know. I want you to be able to feel comfortable. Despite Mrs Cameron's reaction this morning, I don't care where Toby goes; he'll soon get used to the place and, hopefully, so will you,' Jane said reassuringly.

'I'm sure I will,' Jess replied with a smile back.

The journey to Bury-St-Edmonds was very pleasant, as Jane showed Jess areas of Felsham that she hadn't seen on her previous visit and told her some more of the history of the place. Jess was in her element, she loved hearing about new areas and the places that were special to Jane.

'That's where Alexander used to work,' Jane said casually as she pointed at the bank as they drove passed it. 'That's where he started out and now he is on the board of directors.' Jess thought that she might have been wrong, but as Jane made the comment, she thought that she could hear a certain edge to Jane's tone; a bitterness that she hadn't properly heard before. However, as she continued to stare straight ahead of her, Jane gave no other indication of any bitterness that she might have felt for her husband and she returned to normal almost as soon as it had happened.

'After the auction we can go out for lunch if you like; I know a really great restaurant, well, it's more of a country pub now than a restaurant, but it's an old converted mill, with a water wheel. I think that you will love it.'

'You know Janey, before I decided that I wanted to get to know you, I would never have thought that you were the pub visiting type. You surprise me,' Jess said with a smile, which wasn't quite as big as Jane's when she heard Jess refer to her as "Janey"; an affectionate term that was used only by one or two people in her life. 'Oh you don't mind that I called you Janey do you? Only, I have heard Lovejoy call you it a few times and, I dunno, Jane just sounds too formal.'

'Janey is fine, absolutely fine,' Jane beamed, which made Jess's faltering smile return tenfold.

When they arrived at the auction house they walked towards the building together, with Jess's arm linked through Jane's. She was in an exceptionally good mood and Jane was thriving on the fact that this had been the first day they had spent together, which wasn't marred with pain and angst. It was just a day out like any other, her and her daughter; although she had to keep reminding herself that that wasn't quite the case. Jess wanted them to be friends, just friends and nothing else.

When they got inside Jess was over-awed by the beauty of the antiquities before her; items of furniture, paintings, ornaments, the list was endless. She started to wander off whilst Jane greeted Lovejoy and she instantly became mesmerised by some paintings. She picked one up in a frame of a little girl on a swing and was staring at it intently when Lovejoy came up behind her.

'What are you doing?' He whispered, which made her jump, but she smiled as she turned to face him.

'This is exquisite!' She exclaimed as she showed it to him.

'The kid's got a good eye Janey,' he said as he examined it closer. 'Sarah Clelland, 1896, "Lily", it's called.'

'How can you possibly know that?!' Jess was astounded.

'Oh Lovejoy just knows these things; he's what is known as a divvy, which is someone in the antiques trade who has a sixth sense about antiques. So is the genuine article?'

'It sure is Janey and it has a very sad tale behind it. See, the little girl in the painting is Clelland's daughter, Lily, she died when she was just a few days old,'

'But she looks like she might have been about six in this picture,' Jess said.

'Well she never had any more children after that. Her husband ran off with another woman shortly after Lily's death, so she created this world for herself in her paintings. They depict the life that she wish she had led with her daughter, before she succumbed to TB just two years later,' he explained and at his words, Jess looked up at Jane and gave her a knowing smile, who looked back at her with a pained expression. She too had created a world in her head, of the life she could have led with her daughter and now she looked on the painting with even more fondness.

'Come on, we better be heading inside, otherwise they'll start the auction without us,' she said as she then guided Jess into the next room, where there were more items, catalogued and waiting for sale.

'Oh wait a moment, this is bloody fantastic!' Jess half shouted with excitement. 'Oops, sorry, didn't mean to swear, or say that so loudly, but look at these vintage cameras,' she explained as she guided them over to a job lot of cameras. 'This is a folding Kodak, an autographic special from 1914 to 1917,' she said as she picked up a camera with a concertina lens. 'It's a shame that it's missing the range finder though,' she added as she closely examined it.

'Do you know much about cameras then Jess?' Lovejoy asked; impressed by the knowledge and enthusiasm she had already imparted.

'Oh quite a bit; photography is one of my passions and I just love vintage photography. I think I first got the bug for it when my granddad gave me his old box brownie,' she explained as she then saw a much larger camera towards the back. 'Good Lord they have a National!'

Jane found Jess's excitement thoroughly catching and found herself smiling and laughing until her face ached. All in all there were five cameras and Jess knew something about each and every one of them, which impressed both Jane and Lovejoy.

As they headed towards the auction room, Jane grabbed hold of Lovejoy's arm and pulled him back slightly, just out of ear shot of Jess and whispered, 'I want you to bid for those cameras. I don't care how much; I just want you to get me them!'

Jess was completely oblivious to Jane's request, as she stood at the back of the small room and listened to what was going on. She was amazed at how quick some of the bids for things came in and some items were sold within minutes, whereas some took a little longer to sell.

'Lot number two-seventeen; a watercolour painting by Sarah Clelland circa 1896, titled "Lily"; who will start me with a bid of one hundred pounds? Anyone? Alright, any bids at fifty? Have I got fifty? Thank you madam; do I hear sixty; seventy; eighty; ninety; one hundred; one fifty; two hundred; three hundred…' Jess watched intently as the price increased; it was so fast paced that she couldn't see everyone that was placing a bid and was astonished at how quickly the amount rose to one thousand pounds. 'Last chance, at one thousand pounds; are we all done at one thousand pounds? Sold.' The gavel was banged loudly and the sale was done. There were excited and disappointed murmurings in the room, until the auctioneer called for silence again as the next lot was displayed.

This went on for some time until they were joined by Tinker; who looked a little worse for wear. His eyes were slightly bloodshot from alcohol and sleep deprivation and his complexion was slightly grey in colour.

'Tinker, where the hell have you been?' Lovejoy hissed.

'Sorry Lovejoy, I got held up; there was a lock in at the Old Bull and Bush,' he whispered back.

After a few more lots, Jane's stomach began to rumble loudly, as was Jess's. It was definitely time for their lunch.

'Shall we head off and get something to eat? Leave the boys to it,' she whispered in Jess's ear, who nodded with glee as she then turned and began to head away, closely followed by Jane. 'Just remember Lovejoy, whatever it takes to get those cameras,' Jane reminded him once Jess was out of earshot.

With the sounds of the auction still ringing in their ears Jess and Jane disappeared down the country roads again. Jess had really enjoyed her experience at the auction house and had enjoyed sharing something that both Lovejoy and Jane really loved.

'So what will happen to the stuff Lovejoy has bought?' She asked.

'Well he'll take it back to his workshop and either restore them, and then sell them on, or he'll have a buyer already in mind.'

'Do you often pay for him?' Jane laughed at that comment; she had already decided that one of the things she liked most about Jess was her blunt honesty.

'Well, yes, to be honest; I think it's always been the nature of our relationship, even when I first met him. He and Tinker were up in court on some charge or other; they needed someone to cough up the bail money, so he phoned me. I don't know what it was that made me do it, as I had only met him a couple of days earlier, but I still went down to the court and I did pay his and Tinker's bail; Alexander was furious when he got home. He was the JP presiding over the cases that day,' she laughed mischievously.

'I forgot that Alexander was a JP as well,' Jess commented casually.

'I didn't realise that you knew.'

'Eric told me, whilst he was repairing my tyres. He was talking about the guy who mugged you and made a comment about you being the wife of the JP,' Jess explained. 'Did they ever catch that bloke?'

'No sadly not. After everything that had happened, well, between us, I never thought to report it to the police and by the time I remembered, it was too late for them to do anything about it,' Jane replied, just as she pulled into the car park of the pub.

'It's funny to think that that was only a few weeks ago, as it feels like a lifetime now,' Jess commented and again this brought a smile to Jane's face. Today was definitely a good sign and a step in the right direction for their relationship.

Jess seemed a lot more relaxed now in Jane's company than she ever had been before; there was something more natural between them and Jess was starting to feel it too. She was starting to see the real Jane shining through, that had spent many years being supressed and hidden and a different Jane dragged into the Felsham world.

Once inside, they perused the menu before a young waitress approached them and took their orders. Jane ordered a bottle of champagne, she felt like celebrating, and they sat and chatted happily until Lovejoy and Tinker joined them a short time later.

'Did you get everything sorted Lovejoy?' Jane asked with a raised brow.

'I sure did Janey; our purchases are currently in the car and I put yours into the range rover,' he replied, still giving no indication to Jess as to what it was that he had purchased on Jane's behalf.

'Excellent, thank you Lovejoy!' Jane said with great delight.

When the waitress returned with Jess and Jane's starters, she took Tinker and Lovejoy's orders. They all chatted happily about how lovely the pub was after its refurbishment, courtesy of Jane's hard work, and then Jane remembered her plans for the barbeque and how excited Jess had been.

'Tinker, what are your plans for next weekend?' She asked.

'The usual I suspect,' he replied mischievously, referring to his routine pub crawls.

'Well how would you like to come up to my place instead on Saturday afternoon? I thought we could have a barbeque.'

'That sounds like an excellent idea Janey,' Lovejoy said with genuine delight at the idea and his smile broadened when he saw the look of joy on Jess's face.

By the time they had all eaten and shared Jane's bottle of champagne it was late afternoon, and even though Jess was enjoying Tinker and Lovejoy's company, she really wanted to return to Felsham Hall to spend time with just her and Jane. Clearly, Jane had the same idea, as she inclined her head to Lovejoy and indicated to him that she wanted to go.

'Right well, come on Tink I think it's time we left the ladies to the rest of their day,' he said as he clapped his hands together and took Jane's hint.

'But is your niece not coming back with us?' Tinker asked with confusion, thinking it odd that Lovejoy's niece should be spending so much time away from him; but his confused look was met with a warm comforting smile from Jane, who gently placed a kiss to his cheek as they walked towards Miriam.

'I will explain it to you one day Tinker, I promise you that; but just not now,' she said and he nodded his acknowledgement to her, but still felt very bemused.

Lovejoy and Tinker then said goodbye to Jess, who gave them both warm hugs before she began to walk back to Jane's car. Jane wasn't far behind her, but she just needed a few moments to compose herself. Sometimes she had to keep reminding herself that Jess was real and really there in front of her.

She watched as Lovejoy and Tinker drove away before she unlocked the car doors and called Jess back just as she was getting into the passenger's seat; 'could you come here just a moment please Jess?' She said as she stood at the tailgate; a playful smile forming on her lips, she looked at the box of camera's Lovejoy had bought for her. 'These are for you,' she added once Jess was by her side and she felt delighted by Jess's beaming smile.

'Oh Janey I can't believe you did that for me; you didn't have to do that, but I do love 'em!' Jess exclaimed with obvious joy and she could barely contain her excitement as she threw her arms round Jane's neck and gave her the biggest hug she could manage.

'You're very welcome Jess; I know that I didn't have to, but I wanted to. When I saw how much you loved them, well, I just knew I had to get them for you,' Jane said once Jess had released her from her chokehold. 'Perhaps we can stop off at the chemist on our way home and pick up some film, see if they're still working. What do you think?'

'Can we really?'

'Yes of course we can; we have the rest of the day to ourselves, so why not?' Jane replied with a smile as they both got back into the car.

By the time they returned home to Felsham Hall it was mid-afternoon, but they had indeed stopped off at the chemist and bought several rolls of film, which Jess was now putting into her lovely, vintage cameras. She sat at the kitchen table whilst Jane watched her intently. Once her task was complete and all cameras now had film, including her more modern SLR, she looked up at Jane with a broad smile.

'Fancy coming for a walk?' She asked as she held her camera in front of her and at the mere mention of the word "walk", Toby gave a little delighted bark from underneath the table.

They walked the same route as the day before, but this time the atmosphere was completely different between them. They walked much closer together, except for when Jess stopped to take pictures of the flowers and trees, and the dogs ran in front of them. She never noticed how Jane would look at her as she concentrated on the subject she was photographing; it was a look of nothing but motherly pride and disbelief. She was enjoying the sensation of having so much time with her daughter, but she couldn't help allowing her mind to fast forward and wondered how things would be once Alexander returned and what would happen once Jess moved into Lovejoy's.

The thought unnerved her a little, but as soon as she saw the look on Jess's face, her thoughts melted away into nothing and she felt the warmth of love wash over her again. Her heart skipped a beat when Jess threaded her arm through hers, as she so often did now; but it still took Jane by surprise each time she did it.

'Sorry to keep holding you up; I just get so carried away when I'm with my camera that I usually forget everything else around me,' Jess said as they walked a little further.

'Not at all; it's lovely to see you enjoying yourself,' Jane replied.

'It used to drive Mum mad sometimes, when we went out for walks together; not that she could get out in the later days mind, but before that we used to walk together all of the time.'

They walked a little further than they had the day before, until they came to a lane that led into a courtyard at the back of Felsham Hall, where the trees from the wood thinned out and now surrounded several fields and a paddock.

'I didn't get the chance to show you the horses before,' Jane said as she led Jess towards the stables.

'How many do you have?'

'Three, at the moment; Murphy, Hazel and Dora. Have you ever ridden a horse?'

'No, I haven't; I've ridden a donkey at Brighton beach, does that count?' Jess replied nervously, as they walked towards two of the horses in the paddock. 'Where's the third one?'

'Oh Murphy is in the stables; he's lame at the moment as he threw his shoe, again, but the blacksmith is due tomorrow,' Jane explained casually.

'Does it hurt him? Losing his shoe I mean; does it hurt him to put it back on?!' Jess said with a look of subtle fear on her features.

'No, it doesn't hurt him to have it put on and it doesn't hurt him to lose it, but it's uncomfortable for him,' Jane said as she led Jess over to the stable door where Murphy hung his head out of the door. They both stroked his nose and he nudged them with appreciation. 'Come on, let's head back up to the house and get started on some dinner,' she added as they began to walk back towards the house, which marked the start of their evening together and the end of what had been a perfect first day together.