Olive continued to stare at him but for once she didn’t acquiesce to what he demanded. Since the day she had got married and especially since Alice had been born she had taken the line of least resistance, hoping against hope that somehow they would find a way to be able to live together in – if not happiness – then at least civility, for the sake of their daughter. But if he expected her to cut off their families then he was in for a shock. Her parents’ and his mam’s support, and even his brothers’ kindness to her on the rare occasions they met, was what kept her going half the time. She’d go stark staring mad if she couldn’t have normal conversations with normal folk sometimes. And she had never said a bad word about Adam to his mam; to her own, yes, but never his. Her stare became fixed as she said, ‘If you don’t want your mam calling round to see Alice, then you tell her so. As far as I’m concerned she’s welcome any day, same as any of your family.’

‘You’re refusing to do what I tell you?’

The tone of his voice was all the more threatening because of its quiet grimness, but Olive knew she was fighting for her very sanity. ‘I’m saying it’s up to you to tell her if you don’t want her here, that’s all.’ She couldn’t hold his gaze any more, standing up and beginning to clear the table of the dirty dishes and hoping he didn’t notice the way her hands were shaking. He had never hit her – manhandled her out of the way on occasion, pushed her roughly to one side, yes, but never hit her – but she wouldn’t put it past him. He liked to hurt her, that was for sure. On the nights he took her in their bed he was uncaring and deliberately brutish, sating his physical need without a word or the slightest caress and then rolling away so no part of him was touching her. Twice since Alice had been born she had missed a couple of periods but then on the third month each time she had miscarried, and in truth she hadn’t known whether she was glad or sorry. Much as she adored her daughter the thought of bringing another child into the existence she was enduring seemed wrong in every way.

She wasn’t aware he had gone until she heard the back door bang, and then she turned and watched him through the kitchen window as he disappeared out of the yard into the lane. He wouldn’t be back until it was late, and with this knowledge the tenseness seeped out of her body but in so doing left her limp and trembling.