‘Mary Kate…’ he said, but he was too late.

She saw the curtains pulled around the bed and she stopped in her tracks as though electrified. She noted the expression on Nurse Brogan’s face as she quickly walked from the opposite end of the ward towards her.

‘No. No. No.’ It was a whisper. A denial. ‘No! Where is he? Where have you taken him?’ She glanced wildly around the ward, at the approaching visitors and the beds filled with patients, as though expecting to see him in one of them. ‘Where is he?’ This time it was louder. Shaking free from William’s hand, she ran down the ward and almost knocked Nurse Brogan to the floor as she pulled the curtains back.

‘No! God, please, no!’ Her wail filled the ward as her hands grabbed at the starched white sheet that covered him. She began to slide down towards the bed and a strong pair of arms hauled her to her feet. It was Dr Gaskell.

‘I am so sorry, my dear,’ he said. ‘There was nothing we could do. He knew he was going to die and he expressly would not let me tell you. William was with him; he was not alone.’

Mary Kate was too distraught to speak as she sobbed and stifled her cries in Dr Gaskell’s white coat.

Matron appeared behind the curtains and spoke to Nurse Brogan. ‘Help me get her to my rooms, will you, please. Nurse Brogan, tell Porter Dessie to bring a wheelchair. This poor girl won’t have the use of her legs until she is over the shock.’

Despite the warmth from the fire in Matron’s sitting room and the sweet tea she was forced to drink, Mary Kate shivered violently, causing her teeth to chatter.

‘It’s the shock,’ said Matron as she placed a rug around Mary Kate’s shoulders.

Mrs O’Keefe slipped her arm over the rug and pulled Mary Kate into her side. Mary Kate laid her head on her shoulder and stared, transfixed, oblivious to the conversation taking place around her.

‘I’m afraid it happened so very quickly,’ Dr Gaskell said, ‘as it sometimes does. His heart was as strong as an ox’s yesterday, but some of his other organs were beginning to fail and cause us concern, so we knew that time was running out. It was that that made Matron take the decision that you should stay for the whole day from now on, an exception to visiting rules which she never breaks, as you know.’ He glanced over to Matron. ‘I am terribly sorry. Sometimes our Maker has other plans for us. I… we… we thought he had about two more weeks…’ He looked to Matron again. ‘But we are not God, we cannot decide the time of calling, we can only guess.’

The manner in which Dr Gaskell explained to Mary Kate what had happened, just as he would have done had Mary Kate been Nicholas’s lawful wife, was a kindness they all appreciated, and the only person who was too far away in her own thoughts to understand a word he was saying was Mary Kate.