‘That was about the size of it, yeah. After you were born, there were times when I thought leaving might be easier, only then sense took over and I accepted that, without Mam and Dad’s support, I’d be sunk. I had to stay put. By then, I was determined to keep you. You were a lot of work, but I had plenty of energy, and you were a happy baby. Right from the start, you were alert and content. Mam and Dad were mad about you, and they agreed you should stay.

‘Again, when you were older, after my parents had died, I toyed with the idea of leaving. But where would I go? Where would we go? You were getting on well in Kilmitten. I didn’t have any skills. I was stuck.’

Tess’s memories of her grandparents were hazy. Her grandfather had suffered a fatal heart attack when she was three. A couple of years later, her grandmother had died from breast cancer. Apart from mild sadness at their early deaths, she hadn’t given them much thought. Now, she marvelled at their courage. They’d grown up during a time of unquestioning deference to the Church, yet they’d been gutsy enough to say, ‘No, thank you very much. We’ll decide what’s best for our daughter and granddaughter.’

Three cheers for Nan and Granddad.

‘Also,’ her mother was saying, ‘the more I thought about it, the more I knew I had to stay. I’d done nothing wrong, so why should I be forced out? When you went to school, I got a job. It mightn’t have been a job I wanted, but it paid the rent. Until I moved in here, it still did.’

Another tear escaped. Tess rose and fetched the tissues from the dressing table. ‘This sounds rough, but did I not remind you of him and of what he’d done to you?’

‘Sometimes, yeah. Sometimes I’d watch you and it’d be hard. But then you’d be all chatty and funny, and I’d think, You can’t take it out on her. She’s her own person. And you gave me so much happiness. For years, every moment of pure happiness I had came from you.’

Tess found this so touching that she couldn’t think how to respond. In the end, she just said, ‘Thanks.’

‘It’s the truth. Of all the regrets I’ve had, I never for one minute regretted keeping you.’

‘When I was a baby, how did people treat you?’