Wanting to get the entire story off her chest, Sybil pushed on. ‘On the train when I was in labour, I told Ronnie what I’d done to him and his sister.’ Tears welled up in her eyes. ‘Even though I had treated him so badly and caused him such pain and unhappiness, Ronnie stayed with me till the end.’ She took a deep shuddering breath. ‘His act of pure kindness shamed me to my soul.’

‘I’ve always said he’s a good lad deep down, my Ronnie,’ Rosie said defiantly.

‘I did a wicked, wicked thing,’ Sybil admitted. ‘Lying to the police and all the residents. Not to mention the effect it had on you and your innocent children.’

‘Lucky Sally and Ronnie landed up in a good place with the Larkins,’ Rosie answered carefully. ‘Losing them was bad enough, but if they had finished up in an orphanage, I think I would have lost my mind.’

The two of them fell silent for a while, before Rosie persisted with her questioning.

‘So what changed your mind about us?’ she asked in bewilderment.

‘You, Rosie,’ Sybil said in all honesty. Having started down this road, she knew that she couldn’t live with herself unless she revealed her other motive. ‘It was when I got to know you better, when I was working on the wards. I knew you didn’t like me, that you were quite rightly suspicious of me, but once we got chatting about Dowry House and the Brigadier’s antics, we seemed to get on like a house on fire.’

‘That’s right – you were always asking me questions about Lady Veronica,’ Rosie remembered.

‘Oh, God!’ Sybil thought. ‘Now I’m going to have to tell her how I exploited her on those occasions too.’

Holding up her hand, Sybil stopped Rosie in her tracks. ‘I’ve not finished,’ she announced. ‘There’s something else.’

Shocked Rosie gasped incredulously, ‘More wickedness?’

Sybil wriggled uncomfortably. ‘Not necessarily wicked – more exploitative.’

Rosie’s brow crinkled in confusion. ‘What’s that?’

‘Using people for your own means,’ Sybil muttered. ‘You see, I started questioning you about Lady Veronica because I wanted to find a way to disgrace Brigadier Baldwin.’ She let out a long sigh. ‘Now you know everything, all my dirty secrets. Call me a bitch if you like, you’d be quite within your rights.’

‘You’re a bitch all right,’ Rosie said without a moment’s hesitation. ‘You break up my family, then squeeze me dry for information. None of that is impressive behaviour.’

‘I’m certainly not arguing with you,’ Sybil readily agreed. ‘But I can give you an explanation.’

‘The truth would be a nice change,’ Rosie said cynically.

‘You must have guessed by now that Monty is the father of my baby.’

Rosie shrugged. ‘Most people have.’