Never having met the girl before and having been far too distracted by her new husband to pay that much attention when Nikolai had spoken of his daughters on the journey Ustinya wasn’t sure whether the girl’s quiet reaction was a good sign. Perhaps she was naturally a little bit slow on the uptake?

“Sometimes love strikes you like lightening,” she added with a smile entirely for her new husband. She’d had misgivings about the daughters, but nothing could have ever deterred her from marrying this man – for his sake she would try. “I’ve been so looking forward to meeting you Petra, I just know we shall be friends.”