‘I’ll try,’ he agreed, but she knew that was as much as he was able to promise.

There was one thing about her mother, Kate was obliged to acknowledge, she didn’t bear malice and stay angry for days on end. The next morning when Kate appeared at the breakfast table, washed, dressed and ready for school, Esther Godfrey greeted her daughter with a smile and planted a kiss on her forehead. ‘Ya lunch box is ready on the side there. Dun’t forget it. D’ya want more milk on ya porridge?’

‘No thanks, Mam.’

Kate sat at the kitchen table and ate while her mother picked up the baby from the cradle in the corner, sat in the Windsor chair by the fire in the range and opened her blouse front. The baby nuzzled greedily and began to suck loudly. Deliberately, Kate concentrated on her porridge.

‘Shall ya come to church with me on Sunday, Katie? It’s time I was churched after having Lilian. Ya Dad’ll mind her for once.’

Eagerly, Kate said, ‘Ooh yes, Mam. I’d like that.’

She was rewarded with one of Esther’s radiant smiles. ‘That’s settled, then.’

Happily, Kate finished her breakfast. On Sunday, for a few precious hours, she would have her mother all to herself.

She didn’t see Danny again until Morning Service on the Sunday. He was sitting in his usual place beside his mother on the opposite side of the church. Kate, being first in the pew and landing up against the white-washed wall, knelt on the hassock and covered her face with her hands. Slowly she spread her fingers a fraction and peeped between them to study Danny’s bent head. Although he was dressed in his Sunday best suit, the collar of his white shirt stiffly starched, his face looked thinner than just a week ago and there were dark shadows under his eyes.

All local children worked from an early age – it was the way of all their lives – but Kate guessed that Danny’s first full week as a working man had been tough and exhausting. It was written on his young face.

As the congregation stood to leave at the end of the service, Kate shifted from one foot to the other impatiently.

‘Stand still, Kate, and stop jiffling. I’ve to see the vicar about our Lilian’s christening,’ her mother whispered. ‘Just be patient, will ya?’ Behind her mother’s back, Kate pouted. Now she would not be able to catch Danny before he left with his mother to walk the two miles home.

The vicar greeted Esther Godfrey warmly and patted Kate on the head with annoying condescension. ‘So, Mrs Godfrey, you want to bring your little one to be baptized.’

‘We thought between harvests, Vicar. About the end of July.’

‘Mmm, yes, yes, I think we could fit you in after Morning Service. Shall we say the last Sunday in July?’