Ivy doubted that very much but she wisely didn’t say anything. ‘And how am I supposed to support it?’ she queried, which gave Emma just the opening she had been hoping for.

When she had finished telling Ivy of her plan the girl was speechless for a moment.

‘But why would you do that for me? And what will the master say when he finds out I’m havin’ a baby?’

‘We’d do it because we all love you, you silly goose,’ Emma chuckled. ‘And my father is fully aware of the situation you find yourself in. I shall quite enjoy having a baby in the house again and I have no doubt Cook will spoil it rotten. So, what do you think?’

‘I’d love to go home,’ Ivy said in a small voice. ‘But I’d have to let the ladies in the suffragette office know I was leavin’. I don’t wanna just go an’ leave ’em all in the lurch.’

‘I can go round there and do that in the morning,’ Holly offered.

‘Would you?’ Ivy looked relieved that she wouldn’t have to face them. She felt so ashamed of the situation she found herself in.

‘Of course. Now, eat up and then you must go to bed and try to get some rest.’

Two days later Emma hired a cab to take them all to Euston Station. Ivy was quiet on the way, wondering if she would ever come back to London again. She and Holly had been happy there for a time, until Jeremy had come on the scene. Even now he still possessed a little piece of her heart but she had accepted that even if he were to come crawling on his knees begging for forgiveness, she could never trust him again. She had to finally face the fact that it was well and truly over and try to make the best of things for the baby’s sake.

The journey home on the train was uneventful. Ivy was still weak and slept on and off for most of the way.

‘Ivy, wake up, we’re home,’ Holly told her eventually and Ivy blinked awake. It was late afternoon and she was feeling absolutely exhausted. Her arm was still in a sling and her chest tightly strapped but it didn’t stop her healing ribs from causing her pain.

‘Just hang on to my arm, Mother and I can see to the bags,’ Holly told her, eyeing Ivy’s chalk-white face with concern. She worried that perhaps they’d made the journey too soon but at least it was almost over. As soon as they were off the train Emma hailed a porter to carry their bags and once outside he placed them in their cab.

‘Right, my girls, let’s get you home,’ she said cheerily, keeping a close eye on Ivy. ‘And then it’s straight off to bed for you, miss.’

Ivy was so worn out that she didn’t even complain and very soon the cab drew up outside the house and Cook rushed out to meet them.