She eyed the needles in his arm and the drips above the bed, managing to resist stroking his lovely silver hair from his brow, and sat patiently waiting for him to wake.

Halfway through the morning there was a bit of a kerfuffle outside the ward door, and Doris thought she heard Michael’s hectoring voice and braced herself for another confrontation. However, the noise soon died down, and she forgot about it when John finally woke.

‘Hello, darling,’ he murmured, his bright blue eyes rather unfocused with the effects of the heavy medication. ‘I’m sorry to be such a nuisance.’

‘You silly, sweet man. Of course you’re not a nuisance,’ she assured him, carefully holding his hand. ‘I’m just so relieved I still have you.’

He smiled at her. ‘It’ll take more than a runaway car to get rid of me.’

‘Now, you’re not to worry about the office,’ she said. ‘I telephoned the secretary we employed over our honeymoon and she’s coming to collect the keys later today. I’m staying at the Anchor for the time being, by the way, so I can come to see you more often.’

He frowned at this, but let it pass. ‘Promise me you’ll take care of yourself, Doris,’ he murmured, his eyelids drooping once more.

‘I will, my love,’ she whispered back before softly kissing his brow.

Lunchtime came and went, but John slept on, so Doris nipped out for a sandwich from the Lilac Tea Rooms and was back by his side when the bell rang for visiting time. She braced herself for the inevitable as the visitors poured in, and Michael marched towards her, his expression set.

He ignored her completely as he stared down at his father for a long moment, and then went to talk to the nurse. Returning minutes later, he sat down on the other side of the bed and glared at her. ‘Where were you last night?’

‘I was with friends,’ she replied, meeting his gaze and refusing to be cowed.

‘I suppose it didn’t occur to you that I would need somewhere to stay? And by rights, it should have been in my father’s house.’

Doris refused to be drawn into an argument and remained silent.

‘It was most inconvenient,’ he went on. ‘I had to book into a hotel.’

Still Doris said nothing, but she could see it was really irritating him, and he was itching for a fight – and yet she couldn’t think of a thing to say to him.

He leaned forward, checked that his father was still asleep and eyed her coldly. ‘I see you’ve spent my inheritance by having all that work done on that ridiculous house,’ he hissed. ‘Well, don’t get too comfortable, you gold-digging harpy, because if anything happens to Father I will see you back on the street with nothing.’

Doris suddenly felt very calm. ‘Why do you hate me?’ she asked, genuinely curious. ‘I’ve done nothing to you to deserve such spleen.’

‘My mother was the most wonderful, caring woman with grace and beauty, real class and great charm. You aren’t fit to walk in her shadow, let alone take her place.’ He eyed her with a sneer. ‘You’ve inveigled your way into my father’s affections, catching him while he was still grieving for her and worried sick about me. All you really wanted was a meal ticket – and it shows in the amount of money you made him spend on that house.’