‘It were the same for me,’ said Silas. He shuddered. ‘I won’t say no more about it.’

Louisa said, ‘Reight enough. Well, there were no sign o’ Shandy, but I weren’t exactly lookin’ out for the dog.’ She bent to kiss the top of Shandy’s head. ‘Sorry, love, but I had all on not to be pulled under or bang into summat. It were so dark, just blackness all round, and me lungs choked. I knew I were drowning, knew it. Knew there were other people in the water. There were some screaming, but I couldn’t see anybody. That were bad, hearin’ ’em, but not seein’. Then a tree went by and I threw mesen over it, just clingin’ on. I shut me eyes. Then I got hit. Something smashed the back of me head. The next thing, I wake up, thinkin’ I’d find meself in bed again, but I knew. I knew straightaway it weren’t the bad dream I wished it were, tha knows?’

Silas nodded. He hadn’t been aware of Harriet taking his hand in hers, but he was glad of it.

‘Anyway, I’m starin’ up at the blue sky above me, birds flying about. It’s the mornin’ and I’m on the riverbank, clarted in mud, but still wearing me nightie, thank the lord. Me head’s pounding, I’m dyin’ of thirst, and this animal…’ she laughed shakily, ‘…this good dog I’d not long known were layin’ next to me, right as rain. I’d lost everythin’. I had some savings, tha knows, I kept in a drawer. All gone. But I were alive and many weren’t.’ She gulped back tears. ‘Hilda, an’ baby Betty. An’ your Alice, too.’

Harriet let go of Silas and went to Louisa and hugged her. Silas felt like the outsider he was. Both women had lost people close to them. Not him. He’d even got his dog back.

‘Louisa,’ he said. ‘I don’t know if I can take Shandy wi’ me. They might not be keen on a dog in the lodgings I’ve got. I’m at the King’s Arms.’

He looked at Shandy. She cocked her head, one way then the other. ‘What I’m askin’ is, Shandy feels at home here wi’ you, I can tell. D’you think you can hold onto her a while longer?’

Chapter 29

‘That was kind.’

‘What were?’

‘Allowing Louisa to keep Shandy.’

‘I’ve not.’

Harriet hummed gently as they strolled on, a few notes of a song she could barely recall her mother singing to her. It was a shame the rain had stopped because she had no reason now to nestle her gloved hand in the crook of his elbow. Silas was carrying the furled umbrella in his fist, like a weapon, whereas Uncle Walter would have used it for a walking cane, swinging it along the pavement.

‘I still can’t comprehend it,’ she said. ‘You, and Louisa, and Shandy.’

Silas stopped and faced her. ‘Listen, I have a secret to tell thee.’

‘I don’t think I can cope with any more revelations.’