‘It’s all ready for ye, all but the cooking of it.’

When Mags took the basket containing the sandwiches and lemonade, she thought as usual that there was far too much for Betsy and Montel, but was glad, as she could sit outside on the wall with them and share their lunch.

She walked down the slope, passing the time of day with her neighbours as she went. It was as she reached the bottom and was about to turn left, to take her to the boathouse, that she spotted a car parked a little way along the seafront. There was something familiar about the figure at the steering wheel, facing towards her. Mags’s heart dropped into her stomach as if it were a concrete brick. It can’t be! Why, after all this time?

Harold got out of the car and walked towards her. ‘So, my little wifey, I’ve found you.’

Mags looked around her. Apart from strangers milling around, there was no one she knew who she could ask to run and fetch Montel.

‘Why have you come, Harold? Couldn’t you just leave things as they are? You have what you wanted – and I have a happy life. Or is it that at last you want to do the right thing by Susan and divorce me and marry her?’

‘What? Me marry someone as low-birth as Susan? No. I’m ridding myself of her. I have met someone. Someone of my own standing.’

‘Harold, you are the meanest man I’ve ever come across. I doubt you will give Susan up, but someone has something you want, and you’re willing to hurt poor Susan once again until you get it. Well, I hope this time she sees sense and finds someone who will love and cherish her, and your child.’

‘I haven’t got a child.’

Mags wanted to tell him that he had two, but it wasn’t her place, as Betsy had never said that she wanted Harold to know about Billy. ‘Well, you can divorce me whenever you want to. But remember that I am entitled to my share in the divorce settlement, and I will fight for it.’

His smile showed how sure he was of himself. ‘That’s what I wanted to talk to you about. There is very little left to share, of what there was. The mill is failing rapidly and is likely to go into liquidation or bankruptcy. There are hardly any assets, and I’m overdrawn at the bank to my limit. However, I have made enquiries, and you have plenty of assets – and therefore the same goes for me, as I am entitled to half of what you have.’

Mags wanted to laugh out loud, as for once she had the upper hand over Harold. ‘If you are referring to the business we run here, then I only actually own a one-third share. And I know that you cannot touch my house, or any personal money that I have, as they are assets that I had before our marriage.’