Dora sweetly indulged Sister Mary Paul, and, if the truth were told, she was pretty besotted by Ada’s lovely daughter too. As was Matron. It wasn’t uncommon to find the three of them cooing over Catherine, who thrived on their praise and attention. When Ada walked into the nursery one day, she surprised all three women, who were peering adoringly into her daughter’s cot. When they saw Ada’s teasing smile, they quickly made a feeble excuse.

‘She’s due for a change,’ Dora announced.

‘She seems to be thriving,’ Matron said in professional mode.

‘She’s a beauty, a little angel!’ Sister Mary Paul gushed.

Sitting on one of the feeding chairs, Ada opened up her nightdress so that Dora could place Catherine on her breast.

‘You spoil her,’ she said fondly.

‘Rubbish! We’re her guardian angels,’ Sister Mary Paul protested.

Before Ada left the Home, she had a quiet word with her friend, Matron.

‘You’re going to be under-staffed if you don’t get some temporary help,’ she fretted.

‘We’ve been that way since Edith disappeared into the night,’ Matron answered crossly. ‘Not a word from her, nobody knows where she’s gone, not even the police, though they have managed to track down the family home in Morley.’

‘Really? That could be useful,’ Ada said eagerly.

‘It wasn’t – that’s what the police officer told me. Mrs Mann – Edith’s mother – is a drunk; they couldn’t get a word of sense out of her. Apparently, she just shouted and swore at them for not finding her daughter, who, she said, had left her penniless and destitute.’

‘Heavens, that’s quite shocking,’ Ada exclaimed.

‘Even the police officer said he would have run away and left no forwarding address if he lived with a tyrant like Edith’s mother.’

‘I suppose it explains something,’ Ada considered. ‘Why she never talked of home or family.’

‘The police also discovered that Edith was sending money home every week, but it’s stopped since her disappearance. From the amount they quoted, it sounded like she sent her mother most of her pay packet.’

‘She must have left herself short,’ Ada reasoned. ‘Why would she do that?’

Matron shrugged. ‘Who knows what power the mother had over her?’

Ada looked thoughtful. ‘Ann, have you considered that Edith might have been paying her mother to stay out of her life?’

‘Maybe, it’s definitely a possibility,’ Matron answered, then appeared deep in thought. ‘The police sergeant told me that it wasn’t uncommon these days for women from strict families to suddenly run away from home in order to join up.’

‘Run away in order to serve their country,’ Ada murmured.

Matron nodded. ‘The sergeant said that in his experience they nearly always re-establish contact once they’ve been conscripted, when it’s too late for the family to do anything about it.’

‘Is that what they think Edith might have done?’ Ada asked.