William sighed heavily. ‘Because there was no burial. I thought it best to have a cremation.’

Olivia’s hand flew to her mouth and she began to gabble her incomprehension. ‘Why on earth would you do something like that? You don’t even believe in cremation, so why do it to your own flesh and blood?’

‘Because I thought it for the best,’ snapped William irritably. ‘That baby brought nothing but trouble from the moment it was conceived – better if it was erased from history.’

Olivia jumped up, tears streaming down her face, and ran to the door. ‘It? It? I know you can be a mean, cantankerous pig of a man, but to refer to your own grandchild as “it”? How can you sit there and cast the blame on an innocent child?’ She didn’t wait for him to answer. ‘I hate you!’ She left the room and ran across the hall.

Her father stumbled as he tried to get to his feet. ‘Olivia, wait!’

‘You’re a heartless vile, old man,’ she yelled. ‘I never want to see you again as long as I live!’ She raced down the drive, so upset that she didn’t stop running until she had reached Aigburth Road. Seeing a bus just about to pull away from the stand, she waved at the clippie who was looking out for potential passengers. ‘Wait!’

She jumped on to the back of the bus and quickly took a seat before the clippie rang the bell. Turning to face the window so that she might hide her tears from the other passengers, she hastily wiped her face dry with the palms of her hands. The clippie approached her tentatively and asked her for the fare, which Olivia handed over, careful to keep her eyes lowered.

The clippie smiled shyly as she gave Olivia her ticket. ‘Are you all right, luvvy?’

Olivia nodded. ‘Not been home for a while,’ she mumbled by way of explanation for her tears.

The clippie nodded slowly. ‘Probably come as quite a shock seeing the city looking the way it does.’ With the presumption that this was what Olivia had been referring to, she carried on up the aisle taking fares.

Relieved that the young girl hadn’t continued, Olivia replayed the conversation with her father in her mind. How could he have her baby cremated when it went against his religion? Did he really hate the baby that much? What sort of man hated a baby?

By the time she reached her grandparents’, Olivia decided it best all round if she kept the unplanned meeting with her father to herself. There was no sense in upsetting Nana and Pops, who would be devastated at her revelation. She would tell them of her meeting with Ted and leave it at that. When it came to her planned visit to her father, she would make an excuse and hope they didn’t push the matter.