‘All right, it doesn’t matter. He won’t think to look there, and anyway – who’s to say he’ll be looking for anything? As far as he’s concerned, it was an accident.’

There was a knock at the door, and Nora froze. ‘Don’t answer it,’ she pleaded, clutching at his hand, but he stood up and pulled away. ‘Just ignore it, Tom.’

‘I can’t. We’ve got to behave normally, and hiding ourselves away is the worst thing we could do.’ He must have seen the fear in her face, because he turned back and kissed the top of her head. ‘Stay here. You’re grieving for a friend, and no one can blame you for that. I’ll deal with it.’

She did as she was told, waiting urgently for the voice to see how much she should fear it. Tom showed their visitor through to the kitchen, and Nora was relieved to see that it was only one of her neighbours.

‘Mary’s just come to see how you are, love,’ he said. ‘Miss St Aubyn asked her to call in, just to be on the safe side.’

Mary put her nurse’s bag down on the table. ‘That’s right. She thought you might need something for the shock. It’s quite an ordeal, what you’ve been through today. Poor Emily, God rest her soul.’ She shook her head, and Nora wondered how many times she would have to go through this conversation. ‘She fell down the stairs, I hear?’

‘That’s right,’ Tom said, and answered the subsequent questions so patiently that Nora scarcely knew where he got his strength from. 249

‘Do you want something to help you sleep?’ Mary asked, when she had finished her examination.

Nora shook her head; she craved nothing more than a merciful oblivion, but she didn’t trust it. ‘No, thank you. I’ll be going back to work in a bit. Keeping busy will help me more than anything else.’

‘All right, but let me know if you change your mind. And you take it easy, Nora. Miss St Aubyn was concerned about you, and Emily wouldn’t want you making yourself ill over her.’ Nora choked back a sob, willing Mary to leave and give her the freedom to cry, but she turned back at the kitchen door. ‘Oh, I nearly forgot. I’ve been meaning to give you this for days. I accidentally picked it up with my post at the Change House, and it’s been knocking round in my bag ever since.’ She laid an envelope on the kitchen table, and Nora stared in horror at Jenna’s handwriting. The Christmas card had been posted on the fifteenth of December.

‘How long have you had this?’ she asked, not caring if it sounded like an accusation.

‘Best part of a week, probably.’ Mary laughed, and shrugged her shoulders. ‘You know how it is at Christmas – you get busy and things are forgotten. Makes you wonder why we worry, though, doesn’t it, the news we’ve had today? Emily’s death puts things in perspective.’ She sighed, oblivious to the effect her words were having. ‘I hope the card wasn’t important.’