In a faltering tone, she gave Jack his answer. ‘I’d be an old woman before my time. The same life, the same Frank. With my spirit shrinking day after day, until there was nothing left.’

With a shock, she suddenly saw what he was getting at. ‘I’d be no use to the children then, would I?’ she said. ‘That’s what you mean, isn’t it, Jack?’

His answer was to take her in his arms. Grateful to be in a safe place at last, Amy snuggled up to him. It was so comforting to be in a man’s arms, knowing it was love that made him want to hold her. It was good not to dread what might come next and, knowing Jack, never again to be thrashed to within an inch of her life for daring to say ‘no’.

Despite her joy, she was engulfed with guilt over the children, and Molly. Especially Molly, because she was left to carry a burden not of her own making.

Jack had said there was not a selfish or wicked bone in her body, but nothing had been said about her being a coward. For that was exactly what she was. Her cowardice had robbed a lovely young woman, of many carefree years, and maybe the chance to be happy in a life of her own.

As Jack drove down the country roads, getting closer to home with every mile, he felt a deep contentment at Amy’s presence by his side.

To his mind he had done the right thing in plucking her from a life of misery with Frank Tattersall. Yes, he regretted the fact that she had left her children behind, but he had been straight with her right from the start. He was not a man to have brats running round his feet. It wasn’t that he disliked them, just that he simply couldn’t cope with their boisterousness. He made no pretence about that.

All the same, he did feel a rush of guilt about Amy’s eldest daughter, Molly, who had been forced to take on the chaos her mother had left behind.

He consoled himself with the fact that she was only eighteen, with time and energy to spare. Then there was the fact that she would not have to endure Frank Tattersall in the same way her mother had.

He told himself that and felt a little easier.

Molly was amazed to learn that her mother had left the hospital, and even more astonished to be given the letter. ‘I told her we could let you know she’d gone home,’ the sister, who was still on duty, said. ‘But she was adamant about leaving you the note.’

Molly thanked her, and in the privacy of the outer hall, she opened the letter and read it. With each word her heart sank inside her. She could not believe what she was reading. Dear God! It was like her mam had lost her mind. Afraid and confused, she folded the letter and slid it into her pocket.