‘Oh, Daddy, it’s just, well . . . you know. I want to be taken seriously.’ She went into the embrace of his free arm.

‘Well, I take you seriously. I rely on you a lot. But maybe I have been wrong to do so. Not having a son, I naturally let you take an interest in my work. Your dear mother didn’t object, as she has the same nature as you – being free-spirited and not of a mind that there are different roles for men and for women. Oh, Margaret, how am I going to live without her?’

At this, Mags felt her father slump. She helped him to a chair. ‘I’ll be here for you, darling Daddy. We’ll manage. Don’t give up.’

But as she said the words, she had a sinking feeling he was doing just that.

Shutting out her own thoughts of doom and despair, she was determined to be strong. She would be the rock for her parents that they had always been for her.

And part of that role would be to curb the doubts, block out the nightmare images and try to forget the horrors of the war, and especially what had happened after it, when it was discovered that dear Flors and her adored husband, Cyrus, were half-brother and sister. That Cyrus had been fathered by Flors’s and Harold’s father during an affair.

But can I ever blot out the consequences of that coming to light, – the disgust and fear when I overheard Harold and his mother planning to kill Cyrus? And how am I ever going to live with the awful knowledge that, by foiling that plan, I accidentally caused the death of Harold’s and Flors’s mother?

Chapter Two

‘My dear, I have things I – I want to s – say.’

‘Mummy, please don’t try to talk, it takes so much out of you.’

‘Darling, I – I know I haven’t long to be with you. And I want to tell you to be very careful. D – Daddy is failing, too. You will be on your own.’

‘Don’t, don’t! Oh, Mummy, I can’t bear to think of you both leaving me. But you mustn’t worry, as I won’t be on my own. I will have Harold.’

‘Take care. Daddy is good in many ways. I – I have brought him round to thinking that he can leave the mill to you, but he – he can so easily be persuaded otherwise.’

Mags knew what her mother was trying to say. Knew that she had reservations about Harold and his motives in wanting to marry her.

‘Try not to worry, Mummy. I can take care of myself. You have taught me never to accept that I am a lesser being than a man; and to stand up for my rights. Harold loves me. And I love him, Mummy – I do.’

Mags hoped this sounded convincing. Her heart was heavy with sadness as she noted how blue her mother’s lips were, and how her porcelain-like skin looked almost transparent – signs that told the end was near.