The little nun finished chewing her piece of beef and said truthfully, ‘All we can do is pray. Pray that the child’s safely delivered. We don’t want to lose them both, now do we? If she survives the birth, then I think she’ll be fine. But there’s not an ounce of meat on her, and worst of all she’s lost the will to live. You only have to talk to her to realise that. Who’s been emptying her chamber?’

Kerry looked startled at the question and said, ‘I have, we all have, why?’

‘She’s sicking up her food, I’ve seen it before. Is the chamber covered with a cloth or paper?’

‘Of course it is, we ain’t going to walk round with a big Richard, are we!’ Bernadette’s voice was high and Kerry kicked her under the table.

‘I thought as much. She’s been emptying her stomach after every meal. That’s why she’s no weight on her. I only hope the child’s been nourished properly.’

Briony licked dry lips. All along she had guessed at something like this.

‘I make sure she drinks her milk and her port wine. I give her that myself. The doctor also prescribed a tonic, she takes that regularly. She has warm milk with honey in it before she sleeps, and one of us sleeps in the room with her so she must be keeping that down.’

The little nun nodded.

Bernadette started to cry.

‘Don’t you be crying now. We’ll all work together to get her over the birth. I’ll stay up at nights with her, as well as during the day, and we’ll see she can’t get rid of any more food. She’ll have to keep it down if we’re watching her, won’t she? Then, once she’s safely delivered, we’ll see about getting her properly well. So she can look after her child.’

Briony nodded. ‘Maybe the baby will give her the will to live again?’

The nun nodded and cut herself another slice of beef. ‘I’m starving! Look at me, eating like a battalion!’ She carried on eating her meal, but didn’t answer Briony’s last question because she didn’t want to say out loud what she really thought.

It was the child that was killing Eileen Cavanagh.