Sarah had been resisting this, seeing it as her duty to look after him, but she knew that she couldn’t keep going on in this vein indefinitely. She thought of Mrs Glassford’s refusal of the same offer. She had said it was to preserve her autonomy and the comforts of home, but Sarah suspected that her reluctance was down to the knowledge that it would mark the beginning of the end.

‘I prefer having you all to myself,’ she said.

Archie smiled and then sipped his tea, grimacing slightly as it went down.

She knew they would be revisiting this topic soon enough, but for now felt some relief at heading it off.

‘Nonetheless, there will come a time when you won’t have me at all. We should talk a bit about the future. Your future.’

Sarah shook her head again.

‘You need to start thinking about life without me.’

‘It may not come to that.’

‘Sarah,’ he said simply, an appeal for her to acknowledge what they both knew.

‘We still have time,’ she said, ‘but as we do not know how much, I would sooner not spend it talking about what will happen when it is at an end and I am left on my own.’

‘But you won’t be left on your own, will you?’ he said softly. ‘And that is why we must talk about it.’

Sarah swallowed. She felt guilty to be so lacking courage in facing a future Archie would not get to share. A child he would not live to see.

‘That is the aspect I least wish to think about,’ she admitted. ‘I am scared, Archie.’

‘You will be provided for. Have no fear.’

‘That is not the greatest source of my fear. I do not think myself ready to be a mother.’

He squeezed her hand. Was his grip weak, she wondered, or was he merely being tender?

‘I’m sure you had a good example set you, or you would not be the woman you are. Tell me about your mother,’ he said, resting back against his pillows.

Sarah looked at his handsome face and wondered how she would feel if she saw it reflected in a son once Archie was gone. And if it was a girl, would she see her mother again? The thought was simultaneously cheering and melancholy.

‘She was kind,’ she told him. ‘She worked hard. She suffered a great deal.’

‘In what way?’

‘Multiple pregnancies that ended badly: miscarriage or stillbirth. I was born early and thought too weak to survive.’

‘How wrong they were.’

‘It weakened her. She was frequently ill, and I missed a lot of time at school to stay home and look after her. It made me impatient when I was there. I was a constant source of irritation to the schoolmaster.’

Archie grinned eagerly. It reminded her of the times when they first met, discovering each other through intimate conversation.

‘Why?’