But now Lena had a daughter, and she would be all hers. She would see to it that she didn’t become a part of that world, and Daniel would not have any sway over her little girl’s life at all.

Ria watched as her sister-in-law gazed down at her daughter, and she knew exactly what she was thinking, because she had been there herself. True, daughters belonged wholly to their mothers in their world, but she had found out, as the years went on that, unlike the boys, girls grew up faster. They were harder to rein in and, one day, they fell in love and, if this little one was anything like her Imelda, she would want a man who was her father and brothers personified. That was when the real worry started. But Ria kept her own counsel; after all, Lena had plenty of time to find that out for herself.

‘You thought of a name yet, Lena?’

Lena nodded. ‘Tania. I think this little one looks like a Tania.’

Ria grinned. ‘With that hair and those Irish eyes, she’ll be a beauty, our Tania. She looks like her nana, don’t you think?’

They smiled as Theresa Bailey bowled into the room; she was excited and worried all at the same time. ‘I can’t believe it, Lena! I was in the pub when they came and got me. Let me have a look at her then.’

Lena passed the child to her mother-in-law, and watched happily as the woman expertly snuggled the little child into the crook of her arm.

Theresa stared down at the child for long moments then, nodding as if answering a question, she said softly, ‘She’s a Bailey all right, from the eyes to the hands. She has my mother’s hands – long fingers. She’ll play the piano, and she’ll know love.’

Lena and Ria didn’t say a word. Theresa, they knew, missed her mother and her sister so badly it was a constant pain inside of her. But they had turned their backs on not only her, but on her two children, and that, she could not – would not – ever forgive.

‘She’ll be a comfort to you in your old age! That’s what the old shawlies used to say in Ireland about a late child, especially a daughter. Oh, God love her, she’s gorgeous.’

Lena sank back into her pillows, and sighed happily. She would be just that, a comfort to her in the years ahead. She was thirty-three years old, and she finally had the daughter she had always wanted. She wondered when Daniel would arrive to greet his only daughter, but she knew he would come as soon as he could. Until then, she would do what she had always done and wait patiently for him to come to her.