In the course of a stilted conversation, Jessica discovered that Ella was only nineteen, five years younger than her, and Lily was just a week older than Daisy.

‘I might come back next week if you’re going to be here,’ Ella said after they had sat in silence for a while, and Jessica felt an unexpected surge of happiness. She could not recall the last time anyone had expressed anything like pleasure in her company. She mentioned her husband, and Ella said she lived alone.

‘Apart from Lily, that is,’ she added with a shy smile.

‘What about her father?’

Ella shrugged. ‘Oh, he pissed off as soon as Lily was born. He wasn’t interested in her, or me.’

‘But he must still support you?’

Ella shook her head. ‘No chance. You’ve no idea what an evil bastard he was. I’m better off without him, even though I’m skint. It’s not easy trying to care for a baby with no money.’

Jessica gazed at Ella’s baby, noticing for the first time how puny and lethargic she looked compared to Daisy.

‘That’s wrong,’ she said. ‘You ought to chase him for child support, for Lily’s sake. He has a duty to pay maintenance. He can’t just walk away from his responsibilities.’

Despite her indignation, Jessica felt a twinge of envy on hearing about Ella’s untrammelled status.

‘You don’t understand,’ Ella muttered. ‘He’s not my husband. We weren’t married.’

‘That’s beside the point,’ Jessica said. ‘He’s still Lily’s father. She’s his child too, and he has a duty to pay towards her upkeep. You shouldn’t let him get away with it. The law is on your side. Go and see him and insist he helps you.’

‘I might try and chase him if I knew where he was, but he’d be more likely to kill me than part with any money,’ Ella replied, with an angry snort. ‘And anyway, it’s none of your business.’