The Nanny Affair. Robyn Donald

to avoid the gangly stage, a young man sitting completely at ease on a horse.

      Hastily she forced herself to look at the other photographs. One image—repeated several times—hit her like a kick in the stomach. Dark, brilliant eyes looked out at the world from a tense face; dark hair was dragged back in the child, drawn sleekly away from the lovely, adult face that bore a faint resemblance to Kane’s.

      ‘My stepdaughter—Kane’s half-sister,’ Mrs Talbot said, following Emma’s gaze. ‘Diane’s mother died when she was very young, so when I married her father I suppose I should have expected fireworks. However, I was very young myself, and I had no idea how a child could react to a stepmother. I expected it to be roses all the way, and fortunately Diane is as sweet-tempered as she is beautiful, so she accepted me happily. When Kane was born a year later she fell in love with him—not a sign of jealousy!’