‘I really feel well, Mrs Dumas.’

Isabel smiled. The child did look well. The walks in the park were obviously doing her the world of good. Her white face had taken on a rosy glow and her body, nicely rounded now, looked more supple somehow, more relaxed.

Briony took a noisy sip of tea and ate a sandwich. ‘I’m hungry all the time lately.’

‘It’s the baby, Briony. You’re eating for two.’

She nodded and ate another sandwich. She had been meeting Tommy every day for a month now, and had gleaned a mine of information from him. Although she was shrewd in her own way, Tommy had first-hand knowledge of the world and relayed this knowledge to Briony in plain and simple language. She took a deep breath and spoke to Isabel Dumas.

‘You want this child, don’t you, Isabel?’

The fact she had called her ‘Isabel’ spoke volumes. The older woman looked into Briony’s face, searching for the reason for the question.

‘I do.’

Briony smiled widely.

‘You can have it. I can’t look after it properly, me mum’s got enough on her plate as it is, so I think the best thing for everyone would be for you to look after it.’

Isabel swallowed hard. This girl-woman sitting opposite had answered all her prayers and she felt an urge to kiss the white face and embrace Briony in her arms. Instead, she nodded.

‘Thank you. I do want your baby, I want it very much.’

Briony, in her youth and her naivety, just smiled. ‘That’s that, then. If you have it, I can see it sometimes, can’t I? Not every day like, but now and then?’

Isabel nodded again. ‘Of course you can, and my husband and I will see to it that you benefit by giving us your baby.’

Briony patted her stomach and said, ‘I wish I didn’t have to leave here. I love this house, and Mrs Horlock and Cissy ... And you.’

It was a simple statement of truth and Isabel took it as that, but still she said, ‘I’ll give you this house as a gift once you’re delivered of your child. I’ll also arrange a substantial sum of money for you to live on.’

Briony’s face opened like a book.

‘Really, you really mean that?’

Isabel smiled. ‘Yes, I do. It’s the very least we can do for you.’

Briony jumped from her seat and flung her arms around Isabel, hugging her tight. Isabel hugged her back, breathing in the smell of her, feeling a surge of love and sadness for the girl as she held her. Knowing that she was taking from her an integral part of her life.

Abel looked at Molly’s frightened face and sighed.

‘How long’s she been gone this time?’

Molly bit her lip before answering him.

‘Well, since this morning. Oh, Abel, she worries me!’