‘According to Stanislaw they don’t need a reason to interrogate anyone,’ she snapped. ‘And that girl has been through enough, Solly. I will not allow it. Do you hear?’

‘I hear, I hear you,’ he barked. ‘Oy vay, Peggy; the whole town can probably hear you.’

Peggy held his angry gaze and softened her tone. ‘Then damned well listen to me, Solly. What about your heart? Do you really want to risk falling ill over there? Are you expecting Danuta to nurse you as well as everything else?’

Solly heaved an enormous sigh and threw his hands up in the air. ‘My heart, my heart,’ he stormed. ‘There’s nothing wrong with the damned thing. Why do you women keep on and on about it?’

‘Because we both know you’re likely to drop down dead one day if you keep this up,’ shouted Rachel, banging her fists on the desk. She burst into tears. ‘Solly, Solly. Please listen for once. I don’t want to lose you, and yet you seem determined to kill yourself. And for what? They’re all gone, Solly. Every last one of them murdered in the camps.’

Solly looked stricken. ‘We don’t know that for certain,’ he breathed.

‘If they’d survived they would have found a way to let us know,’ she sobbed. ‘Please, Solly, don’t go. I beg you.’

He reached across the wide desk to take her hand, his face drawn with concern. ‘Rachel, please don’t cry. You know I hate seeing you like this.’

Rachel lifted her tear-streaked face to him. ‘Then stop being such a stubborn old fool and listen to what we’re telling you. You can’t ignore your health, Solly, and if you go on like this …’

As Solly hurried round his desk to comfort his wife, Peggy quietly left the room and softly closed the door behind her.

In answer to Madge’s enquiring look, she managed a smile. ‘Rachel’s got him where she wants him,’ she murmured. ‘Her tears always work, and he’ll listen to her now. I’d leave them to it for a while until things have calmed down.’

‘He’s changed his mind about going to Poland, then?’

Peggy nodded.

Madge gave a long sigh. ‘Thank goodness for that. It was a fool’s errand, wasn’t it?’

‘The lure of home and family is very strong, Madge. You can’t really blame either of them for wanting to go back.’

Peggy left the factory and hurried along Camden Road, and then on up the High Street and the hill to the factory estate. Seeing Jack working in his motor repair shop, she gave him a wave before entering the small clothing factory unit and switching on all the lights. She still had time to spare before the workforce arrived, so she went into her office and telephoned Beach View.

‘I’m glad I caught you, Anne,’ she said. ‘Could you leave a note for Danuta? Tell her not to go and see Solly until at least this afternoon. He and Rachel have a lot to talk over.’