So should she tell the police? Tilly bit her lip, staring sightlessly at the night beyond the lighted window. Was she risking her own freedom by keeping silent? Did it make her an accessory – or was there some dispensation against spouses being forced to inform against each another? Her anger urged her to tell, but the memory of Sergeant Burns and her own innate loyalty tipped the balance. There was no actual proof of wrongdoing. She would continue to act the widow because, in her heart, that was how she regarded herself. Anything she and Gerry had once shared was over.

Chapter Fourteen

The following morning, as Tilly left the house carrying the joey bottles, Sophie picked up the dish of diced meat that was Harry’s breakfast and followed her across to the animal enclosure. There, she lifted the second joey onto her lap, feeding the long teat into its eager mouth, and looked searchingly at her cousin before she spoke. ‘Have you decided about the letter then?’

Tilly shook her head. ‘I won’t be reporting it, Sophie. Keeping this secret is the last thing I’ll do for him. He chose to be dead – well, as far as I’m concerned, he is.’

‘I see. It’s your decision, Till. You did tell Connor though.’

‘It was the shock.’ Tilly stared at her cousin, forgetting to monitor the milk flow. ‘Reading those words was like – like having his ghost appear before me. I almost passed out! And it was all so quick, I barely had time to take them in before the paper burnt away. Anyway, I asked Connor not to mention it and I don’t think he will.’ Briefly she wondered at her confidence in him. She’d known him only a few weeks but felt an implicit trust in his word. He had said he wouldn’t tell and she believed him.

Sophie frowned. ‘That’s all very well, but it means you’re not free. Suppose the police don’t find him, and down the track you want to marry again? What then?’

‘Right now that’s the last thing I have to worry about.’

‘Yes, but one day . . . You might,’ Sophie said carefully, ‘want another child, Till.’

Tilly shrugged. ‘Plenty of couples have kids without marrying. Anyway, you can have someone officially declared dead if they vanish for long enough. I’ll find out about that if I need to. I’m going to revert to my own name too – Mum’s maiden name, I mean. I was never Tilly Williams, so I’m not using that one. I’m sick of lies and pretending.’

‘You might hurt Elaine’s feelings if you do.’