Mrs Ruffin’s head bounced from side to side as she reached for the bottle of laudanum the doctor had left. ‘Look, have a drink of this, you’ll feel differently when it starts to work.’ With shaking hands, she tipped a few drops into a glass of water but when she raised it to Louisa’s lips, Louisa shook her head.

‘No Ruffy, that’s only a temporary release, and after what the reverend told me when he came to see me the other day, I know I have something so much more to look forward to. When I go to heaven, I’ll never be in pain again and I’ll be an angel.’

‘You already are an angel,’ Mrs Ruffin muttered with a crack in her voice.

Thankfully the painful conversation was brought to an abrupt end when the door opened and Louisa’s mother appeared.

‘I’ll leave you two to it for a time while I take these dirty clothes to the laundry,’ Mrs Ruffin said hurriedly, snatching up the laundry and marching from the room.

Once on the landing she took a deep breath and leant heavily against the wall as her shoulders sagged. Never in her life had she denied Louisa anything, but was she strong enough to do what she had asked of her today? Deep down she knew that death would be a blessed release for the poor soul, for it tore her heart in two watching her suffer. From the time she had taken over the care of her when Louisa was just a tiny baby, she had loved her as her own and now she couldn’t imagine life without her. With a sigh she pulled herself together and wearily went down the stairs.

*

‘So why have you allowed the nanny to take Charlotte away?’ Margaret asked Barnaby at dinner that evening.

News of her going had spread through the house and caused more than a little gossip. After all, everyone was saying, the child could quite easily have stayed with Becky, who was more than capable of looking after her. Barnaby was aware the excuse he had given would only ring true for so long but he would worry about that when questions started to be asked about why Amber and Charlotte hadn’t come back. Neither his wife nor Charlotte’s grandparents had ever shown much interest in her after all, so none of them were going to miss her.

Robert didn’t even look up or show any interest in his wife’s question. He was too busy concentrating on the delightful Queen of Puddings in front of him. Barnaby wondered how he had any room left for it after he had helped himself to two portions of the rack of lamb, and before that he’d eaten a large dish of broccoli and stilton soup.