The provisions that Nathaniel had brought were still on the table. After finishing her tea, Rose put them away before opening the envelope. The notes and coins added up to just over three pounds, although she knew that Davey had brought home well over a pound a week. She shook her head at the meanness. The rent was three shillings and ninepence a week and she’d have to buy more coal for the range soon. It was their only means of warmth and having hot food and drink. Nathaniel was right; this money wouldn’t last long.

She felt a moment’s blind panic, her heart racing, and told herself to calm down. There was a way out of this, there had to be. Davey would expect her to find it.

Somewhere in the distance she could hear carol singers, their voices thin and far away at first but then growing closer. She’d always loved carols but tonight she found them depressing, emphasizing the fact that the rest of the world were getting on with their lives as though Davey had never existed. She put her arms round her middle, swaying back and forth and stifling the moan in her throat so as not to upset Betsy.

She pulled herself together after a few moments, sitting down on the clippy mat and playing with Betsy until the baby’s last feed at eight o’clock. Once she’d put her to bed she retired herself, worn out physically, mentally and emotionally. She slept the sleep of exhaustion for a few hours but then awoke before dawn, missing the warm bulk of Davey beside her and worrying about the future. Betsy had had her first two teeth break the gum together three days before, and since then had slept well. It had been the first little milestone that Davey would never see, and it had been bitter-sweet.

By the time the bells rang out heralding Christmas Day in Holy Trinity Church some streets away, Rose had embraced several possibilities. Working in a factory or a shop or laundry would all involve Mrs McKenzie being able to have Betsy for which she would have to pay her something, and she wasn’t sure whether she would be earning enough to make ends meet as it was. There was also the option of turning the front room into a bedroom and taking in two lodgers. It would help with the rent although she’d have to take in washing and maybe approach the factories round about for some outside work that could be done at home, otherwise she’d never manage. Perhaps she could move Betsy’s cot into her bedroom and take in more lodgers? She hated the idea of strangers in her home but then they wouldn’t remain strangers very long, she told herself ruefully.