‘Of course, it’s very hard to make a living at it.’ Barbara turned towards Liv’s father. ‘I mean, he’s talented and hardworking, but if people with money don’t want to buy jewels, or if they don’t know enough but to settle for something off the shelf, then…’ She’d been pouring money into her son’s business for years. It was Barbara who set Eddie up in the workshop. She’d bought and paid for it from the lump sum she’d received in her pension when she’d retired from her job a few years earlier. Although Eddie never admitted it, Liv suspected that, even now, Barbara was making regular payments into his account. A mother’s love – eh? There was no doubt, Barbara adored Eddie – so much so that Liv sometimes wondered how she’d cope when they got married and she’d have to share him with a wife.

She shrugged off the notion. She could handle Barbara Quirke. All she had to do was smile and show up occasionally and let the caustic comments wash off her back. She would learn to be a swan, perhaps, gliding effortlessly through their relationship, while paddling furiously beneath the water to keep up. ‘I always think if only he had the right contacts…’ She looked towards Liv and her nose wrinkled in automatic disdain. ‘But well, poor Liv – the only girls she knows are all nursing and, let’s face it, they can hardly afford to keep body and soul together these days, never mind know what good quality jewellery was from cheap tat.’ She delivered this gem without a qualm.

‘Some would say that having a calling to help others is a far better quality in a partner than having a calling to help yourself,’ Liv’s mother mumbled, but she kept her voice low when she caught the silent warning in Liv’s glance.

‘Oh, some of my friends have already commissioned pieces from Eddie – isn’t that right Eddie?’ Liv said. He was useless, really, up against his mother.

‘Yes, but they’ll be mainly silver, won’t they? I’m sure you’ll be lucky to get a cubic zirconia between them,’ Barbara said and looked pointedly across at Yvonne’s brooch, which she was so fond of.