They walked on slowly. ‘Well,’ Matthew began hesitantly. He was not adept at describing things. ‘It’s a long wood and iron thing built out into the sea. Ya can walk down it, an’ at the end is a saloon where they have music concerts on a Sunday afternoon. I ’spect there’ll be one tomorrow too. I thought you might like to go.’

‘I’ve heard of concerts, Matthew, but I’ve never been to one. I’d love to go, I really would.’

‘Well, we’ll go, Esther,’ Matthew said generously. ‘We’ll go tomorrow.’

‘Have you been before?’

The moment the question was asked, Esther realized her mistake, for his eyes clouded over and his brow creased in the familiar frown. ‘Yeah, a few years back,’ he muttered shortly.

He must have taken Beth, Esther thought, and now I’ve reminded him of her. She sighed inwardly. It was not the first time during the three years of their marriage that she had unthinkingly said something that had reminded him of Beth, or his son, Daniel. It was impossible to go through life trying to avoid saying or doing anything that would remind him of them. So in the end, Esther had given up worrying. How could any of them ever forget when they all lived so close to each other? They just had to live with it.

Esther had thought that Matthew would forget his promise to take her on the pier, but the following morning he said, ‘Well, aren’t you ready? You’re not going into town dressed in yar pinny, are ya?’

‘What?’

He was already dressed in his Sunday best suit, the gold watch-chain looped proudly across his chest. With a great play at being a gentleman, he pulled the watch from his pocket and let it rest in the palm of his hand. He looked at it, then lifted it to his ear to listen to its tick. ‘Get a move on, Esther, if Ah’m taking you to the pier, else it’ll be dark by we gets there.’

Esther’s eyes glowed with excitement as she hurried upstairs to put on her best dress and bonnet and to dress Kate.

So on Bank Holiday Monday, the third day of August 1914, a hot summer day, with just a light, friendly breeze blowing in from the sea, they walked towards the town along the lane that was now so familiar to Esther. Kate walked a good distance on her sturdy legs, but when she cried that she was tired, it was Esther who humped her on to her hip and carried her.

When they reached the outskirts of the town, Matthew turned up one of the avenues leading to the dunes, through a pathway bordered by prickly sea-buckthorn and on to the beach itself.