“At last,” Alys said irritably. “I wondered how long it’d take before you spoke. D’you have any idea what you’re going to do?”

Alinor bowed her head. “Alys, all I can say is that I’m sorry. But I do have hopes.”

The young woman sat heavily on the bed. “Name one.”

“The father of my baby is a good man. He asked me to marry him, and when I can, I will.”

“You can’t, you’re married to my da.”

“I can say he’s dead, and six years from now I’ll be free to marry. It’s in the law. When a man has been missing for seven years.”

“Say he’s dead?” Alys was shocked. “Name our da as a dead man?”

“It’s not ill-wishing!” Alinor exclaimed.

“It is! That’s exactly what it is. You’ll tell everyone he’s dead—what? Drowned?—and name yourself as a widow?”

“Alys, your da’s never coming back,” Alinor said quietly. “He told Rob, he met him at Newport. He’s never coming home.”

“What? Rob saw him?”

“Your da ran from him, and missed the next meeting. He didn’t want to be found. He told the tutor that he wasn’t coming back.”

“And nobody told me?”

“No . . . You remember? You didn’t want to know. You wanted to go to the Stoneys’ farm without a lie in your mouth.”

“My da isn’t coming back? Ever?”

“No. He says not.”

Alys put her hand over her eyes. “Just like that? And nobody told me?”

“I’m sorry, Alys.” Alinor spread her work-worn hands. “There’s been so much—” She broke off when she saw her daughter was fiercely rubbing her eyes with her shawl. “I’m very sorry, Alys. He wasn’t a good father to you or to Rob. He wasn’t a good husband. He’s not a good man. You said you didn’t care. You said you didn’t want to know.” She paused. “Are you crying for him?”

The girl showed her a sulky face rubbed dry of any tears. “Not at all.”

Alinor pressed on. “So, you see, I don’t have to wait forever for him to come home.”

“Looks like you didn’t wait at all,” Alys said spitefully.

Alinor bowed her head against the accusation. “But in six years’ time I can marry the father of my child.”

“Who says you can do this?”

“It’s the law.”

“Who says so?”

Alinor’s eyes dropped from her daughter’s demanding glare. “Rob’s tutor told me so.”

“Does everyone know about this but me? Does Uncle Ned?”

“No! Only the tutor, because he met your da with Rob at Newport.”

“And the law says you can marry seven years from my da going?”

“Yes, and I will.”

Alys’s strained face showed no relief. “That’ll be a comfort for your six-year-old bastard. But we’ve still got to get through the six years.”

Alinor gritted her teeth. “That’s why I’ll say nothing, and nobody will know I’m with child until you’re safely married. Then, when you’re happy at Stoney Farm, I’ll go away.”

“Leave me,” the girl said flatly. “And Rob.”