‘Of course.’

‘I’ll give you a letter for your own doctor. Take it to him as soon as you can.’

Placing the doctor’s letter and the prescription in her bag, Amy thanked her. ‘Don’t worry about me,’ she said, ‘I’ll be all right.’

‘Oh, and there’s this.’ Sliding a form in front of her, the sister insisted she read it. ‘This frees the hospital from any responsibility, and declares that you have signed yourself out, against our express wishes.’

When Amy had signed the form, the sister filed it in her drawer. ‘One more thing,’ she said kindly. ‘Won’t you please reconsider what the doctor suggested… about seeing the priest?’

Amy nodded. ‘Maybe.’ But what could a priest tell her? Except that she was being selfish, and seeing that the Good Lord had blessed her with so many children, shouldn’t she be grateful. Bitterness flooded through her. What would he know?

Taking Molly’s letter out of her bag, she gave it to the sister. ‘My daughter planned to come here straight from work. She’ll be worried when she finds I’m gone. This little note will explain.’

‘There’s no need for that. One of us can tell her you’ve gone home.’

‘Please,’ Amy insisted quietly. ‘It’s better this way.’

‘Very well.’ Laying the envelope on the desk, the woman promised Amy, ‘We’ll make sure she gets it.’

After Amy had left, the sister picked up the letter. Turning it over in her hands, she wondered aloud, ‘Have I done right in letting her go?’ Yet apart from tying Mrs Tattersall to the bed, she had no choice in the matter.

Chapter Seven

Wiping his beer mugs clean, the barman at the Darwen Hotel cast a curious eye over Jack. ‘I thought you were leaving us today?’ A big, round fellow with a gammy leg, he took delight in studying people. He prided himself on being able to guess a body’s business but, to his frustration, Jack was an impossible nut to crack. ‘Finished here then, have you?’ he asked, thinking there was still time to win him over.

Secretive as ever, Jack shook his head. ‘Nope.’

‘So it’s not gone as well as you expected then… the reason for your visit to these parts, I mean?’

‘Doesn’t seem like it, no.’

Ever optimistic, the barman persisted. ‘Er… you never did say what kind of business you were in?’

‘That’s right.’ Taking a deep gulp of his shandy, Jack glanced towards the door. ‘You say there’s been nobody looking for me the whole time I’ve been out?’ He had been sure Amy would be waiting for him when he got back from his errand.

Sniffing, the barman shook his head. ‘You’ll have to ask at reception, but I’ve seen nobody,’ he answered. ‘You weren’t gone all that long anyway.’

‘I’m off up to my room.’ Jack shoved the price of his shandy across the counter and instructed, ‘If anybody does ask after me, will you send them straight up?’

‘Man or woman?’ This bloke obviously never gave up.