This was said with pride and without any malicious feeling against Eileen who didn’t work, let alone keep herself. It was this fact that galled Molly most about her eldest daughter. She balked at accepting Briony’s money but had no intention of going out and earning any for herself. Molly didn’t say this though, because now Eileen was back on her feet she didn’t want to rock the boat.

Bernadette came down the stairs and both women smiled at her. ‘Did our Kerry come home, Bernie?’

‘I ain’t her keeper, Mum, only her dresser. She probably stayed overnight with someone.’

She poured herself some tea and smiled craftily to herself. She knew who Kerry had stayed with all right, but she’d keep the knowledge to herself a while longer.

‘How did it go last night? Was it a success?’

‘Oh, yeah. Kerry went down a storm. Everyone was raving about her. But it’s funny, Mum, Briony was called away quick like. She looked rough I can tell you. I reckon there was hag at one of the houses.’

Molly put down the brush and went to the table to pick up her mug of tea. ‘What do you mean, trouble?’ Her face was clouded.

‘What kind of trouble do you normally get in those places?’

Eileen’s voice was low and Molly stopped herself from clouting her. Sometimes Eileen’s holy Joeing, as she called it to herself, really got on her nerves.

Bernie laughed.

‘Look, stop worrying, you know our Briony. If there’s trouble it will be sorted by now. It was a shame really because she missed most of the opening. Oh, Mum, you should have seen some of the people there! Really rich like, their clothes... Even the air in there smelt nice, with all the perfumes and that.’

Molly nodded, pleased. This was more like it, this was what she wanted to hear. ‘Were there any titles there?’

Bernie pushed her face close to her mother’s and smiled. ‘The place stunk of titles, Mum, it was really, really impressive. Our Briony is gonna make a bloody fortune.’

Molly sipped her tea and grinned.

That was more like it all right. She lived now in Briony’s shadow, loving her notoriety, enjoying the stir her daughter created. People spoke about her in tones of awe. She was both loved and feared, and that, as far as Molly was concerned, was exactly how it should be.

Evander looked down at the girl asleep in his bed and felt his heart constrict. What the hell had he done? She was no more than a child really, for all her body and her incredible voice. She was a white woman. He had spent the night with a white woman.

Now hold on, a voice whispered at the back of his mind. You ain’t in the States now.