Iris made clucking noises that spoke of her sympathy. ‘Hold yourself together, Mags. I knaw as this is sommat that could break you, but don’t let it. Remember how courageous you are. Do this for your father. ’Cause if you break again, you’ll never get out of here.’ She moved closer and Mags thought for a moment that Iris was going to hug her, but she reached behind her for the straps of the terrible straitjacket that held her rigid. ‘I’ve been granted permission to take this off you, as I’ve given good reports of your behaviour. How you react to this bad news is going to be a telling point for the doctors. Don’t give them – or that husband of yours – a stick to beat you with, as he sounds a right one to me. And there’s some cruel buggers running this place, who wouldn’t have any sympathy with you if you broke.’

Keeping herself still and holding her emotions within her, Mags waited until the hated garment was removed. Her arms ached, and her shoulders stiffened with the restriction they’d been under.

‘Now, let’s rub your limbs to get your blood circulating.’ The feeling of being touched by another person felt good, as the sensation gradually came back into her arms. ‘Now I’m going to make circular movements with your shoulders, lass. It may hurt at first, but as they loosen, you’ll feel the benefit.’

The movement did hurt, so much so that Mags cried out more than once, but Iris carried on until at last Mags’s shoulders began to move more easily and less painfully.

‘Now, that’s better. Eeh, you’ve lost weight, lass. And you look peaky. We’ve to build you up, and some fresh air wouldn’t go amiss. What I want you to do is save your grief. Oh, I knaw you want to holler it out of you, but don’t. Hold your father in the honour he deserves, with dignity. Cry, yes, but don’t wail and call out. And I want you to eat. Aye, it’s the last thing you feel like doing, I knaw. I remember the pain of losing my parents. But do it for yourself, and for your father. The only way out of here is to get well. Your dad would want that for you, wouldn’t he? He wouldn’t want to be the cause of prolonging your stay here. And while you are here, you can do nowt about owt. Out in the world, you can start to put some of the wrongs right.’

With this, Iris left her. But courage did seep into Mags. She would bear this parting from her father, until such a time as she could really vent her grief. She’d come to terms somehow with him being laid to his rest without her, but once out of here she would hold her own service for him. And what of Harold now? Hatred welled up inside her, even just thinking of him, but she would be strong. Yes, he now owned all that should be hers, but he couldn’t take what he didn’t know about; and he didn’t know of her mother’s legacy – her house in Scotland – or of the money that her mother had left her.