Her hand dropped to her stomach where the child was kicking lustily. It was funny, since she had started to feel it moving inside her, her feelings towards it had changed. She still had no intention whatsoever of keeping it, that was quite out of the question, but she knew now that she could no longer bear to just leave it on the steps of the poorhouse. Instead, she and Mrs Carter had come to an agreement. Once the baby was born it was Mrs Carter who would take it there saying that she had found the babe abandoned. At least that way Amber would know that the child had been passed into safe hands.

‘I was planning on going back to Whitby to my old job, but I’ve had second thoughts about that and have no idea where I might go or what I might do yet.’ She crossed her fingers behind her back as she said it knowing that she would never return to Greenacres now. It would be too painful to see Barnaby every day.

Eager to change the subject her uncle asked, ‘And have you heard from your mother lately?’

Amber nodded. ‘Yes, I had a letter from her only the day before yesterday. She says that it’s becoming very busy in Whitby now that they’ve started on the trainline. It’s going to run into Pickering and will make it much easier for the fishermen to get their catches transported inland. And she says that both Ted and Will are actually thinking of leaving the shipyard and going to work on the tracks.’

‘Hm, but what happens when the track is finished?’ he queried sensibly.

‘Well, they’ve already looked into that, apparently. Once that train is running there are new lines springing up all across the country, so it seems the boys wouldn’t be short of work for years to come. The only trouble is they would live where they were working and I don’t think our mam is too keen on that idea. Still, as I told her when I replied to her letter, they’re young men now and quite capable of choosing what they want to do.’

‘Quite.’ He dabbed at his lips with his napkin and poured himself another glass of wine. He and Amber had slipped into a routine now and he found her surprisingly good company for a young woman. She was very intelligent and loved to read the newspaper each day when he had finished with it so was able to converse on most anything. They’d discussed politics, travel and all manner of things and already he had realised that he would miss their chats when she left. In fact, her company had suddenly made him realise what a lonely existence he led. But that was life, he supposed.