Enid rallied first. ‘Leave the fire, Mrs Rosebend. I’ll see to it. You must be busy.’

‘If you don’t mind.’ Mrs Rosebend looked at Vivian for guidance but didn’t find any. Vivian was pretty certain she shouldn’t allow her guest to build a fire but Mrs Henderson had practically swept Mrs Rosebend out of the door and was on her knees in front of the grate before she knew how to stop her.

‘Allow me,’ she offered weakly, standing up from her chair.

‘Oh no, you mustn’t. You need your rest. You know, it won’t be long before fires are unnecessary during the day. Won’t that be nice?’

‘Do you think so?’ Vivian could hardly imagine it. Blackwell was such a cold place. The winter had seemed eternal here. It was almost April, but there was no hint of spring warmth in the air. ‘I can’t believe summer will ever arrive,’ she confessed with a sigh.

Mrs Henderson smiled, refusing to take her gloom seriously. ‘We do get warm spells, like the rest of Britain. Just maybe a little later than in the south. The fact is, time does drag so in your condition.’ Vivian cocked her head to one side. Her condition? ‘So, my dear, I hope it’s not too cheeky to ask, but when are you due?’

‘I’m sorry?’

‘The baby.’ Vivian was stunned. Mrs Henderson carefully finished building the fire and then sat down again. She poured them both a second cup of tea. Softly, ‘You do realise there is a baby?’

Thoughts scrambled into Vivian’s head, a monstrous jumble that she quickly sorted. When had she last had a monthly? She racked her brains. Just before Christmas. Before Aubrey came home on leave. She put her hands on her belly. She had been feeling exhausted and sick. She’d joked it was the country air.

A baby. She was growing a baby. It was incredible. ‘I had no idea,’ she spluttered.

‘Am I right?’ Enid was beaming now, jubilant and delighted as women always were when they heard of a married woman’s pregnancy. Vivian nodded.

‘I think you are.’ A baby! What a shock. She’d had no idea that it would happen. Of course she knew what led to what and she had been doing her duty, especially at Christmas time when he came home on leave in uniform, but there was such a lack of affection between them that she had never thought a baby might spring from it. That all his grunting and all her enduring might lead to a gurgling, smiling actual baby.

‘I have thought so for a few weeks now. I’ve seen you in church. First the green and exhausted stage, then recently the bloom in your cheeks. I’d say you are over three months gone. Do you agree?’ Again Vivian nodded, wondering how this woman could possibly know more about her than she did herself. Suddenly Mrs Henderson’s face fell from its exuberant confidence to concern. ‘I hope you don’t think it’s disconcerting that I’ve noticed.’