Mags put her hand to her head to ease the throbbing pain there. She wished now that she’d travelled with her father, instead of electing to go back in the same car that Harold would travel in. She feared for her father. He’d been very quiet since the death of Mother, and often she caught him sitting with tears running down his face, but no sound coming from him, as if his heart was leaking.

‘You look very beautiful, darling – black suits you. Your eyes look enormous. My lovely, innocent wife-to-be.’ Harold’s hand squeezed her thigh.

This shocked Mags: both the gesture, in the circumstances, and the word ‘innocent’. Oh God, I’ve never told him about the rape. Will he know? Will it matter?

‘Harold, I’m sorry, I – I . . . well, my heart is heavy with sadness. I can’t – I mean . . .’

He turned away to gaze out of the car window.

‘Harold, everything will be all right. It’s just not the right time.’

His sigh, and the look he gave her, with one questioning eyebrow raised, told her that Harold thought any time was the right time. She lowered her head. To her, it was very unfeeling of him to expect anything of her – today of all days.

‘I’ll find a moment to speak to your father. I don’t want to wait any longer than two weeks. If our wedding is cancelled, it will mean me having to go back down to London until the rearranged date draws nearer.’ There was almost a threat in this.

‘Haven’t you work to do up here, Harold? I don’t want to interfere, or tell tales, but word has it that your uncle isn’t capable any more. Only last week it was rumoured that he had to shut down a machine, as he was running out of cotton. He’d forgotten to put in an order in time.’

‘What? I didn’t know that. He’s a bloody old fool. Damn and blast the man!’

‘Maybe more “old” than “fool”. Father is always saying that it will be a good thing when you get here, as your family mill could end up closing, if it’s left up to your uncle for much longer.’

‘Why didn’t you write to me, or send me a wire? Everything was running smoothly when I left last time.’

‘I had my hands full, helping my mother through her last hours. I thought you knew the state of things, as Father said they have been bad for a while. I didn’t imagine you thought the mill was running smoothly, but that perhaps you had a plan of action. Now, with you saying you will have to go back to London, I realize that maybe you don’t.’

Harold shifted in the car seat beside her. ‘I’ll look into it all. But I can’t tear myself in two. You know I have a lot to do in London, after all that happened.’

Mags didn’t say anything, as she hadn’t really understood why Harold needed to be in London so much, when his business and his fiancée were up here in Blackburn. Surely his solicitor could see to whatever needed seeing to, in the aftermath of the tragedy that led to his family home being burned down? Any normal person would want to be with the woman they loved in such circumstances, rather than where it all took place, wouldn’t they?