Ruthie nodded, but she couldn’t look her mother in the eyes. Not long ago she had discovered something about Bob that her mother didn’t know about.

‘I want you to tell me the truth now. If me and Bob get wed, will you be unhappy?’

‘I want you to be happy, Mammy.’

‘I know that, sweetheart, but I want you to be happy as well. You would tell me if you weren’t, wouldn’t you?’

Throwing her arms round Bridget’s neck, Ruthie whispered, ‘I love you, Mammy, and I think you’ll look beautiful in your frock.’ Drawing away she asked impishly, ‘Can I wear a pretty frock too, with bows and frills and things?’

‘You bet!’ Bridget felt relieved, but not altogether reassured. ‘And when me and Bob get wed, you’ll be standing right next to me, looking like the princess you are.’

‘Will Billy be there?’ Ruth had so many things to tell Billy, especially about Bob Morris. Billy would know what to do.

Bridget nodded. ‘And Fanny too, if we can find them.’

‘What if we don’t?’

‘Look, sweetheart, the wedding isn’t until Easter, so that gives us at least four months to track them down. I want them there as much as you do.’

When Ruthie had gone to bed, and the house was quiet, Bridget sat at the kitchen table. ‘We didn’t even talk about my taking over the stall,’ she mused sadly. ‘But that can wait.’

In her mind she went back over her and Ruthie’s conversation. When she got right down to it, there was no real reason to believe that Ruthie was unhappy about the wedding. But she hadn’t really denied it either. ‘What then? What am I to believe? It wasn’t what Ruthie said so much as what she didn’t say. No, there’s something wrong somewhere.’

She pottered about, washed the dishes and put them away, folded the tablecloth and returned it to the dresser, then she sat by the fire, warming her toes. Half an hour later, Bob arrived.

‘Why is it you nearly always show up when I’m getting ready for bed?’ she asked him, though she was pleased to see him.

‘Happen I’m hoping you might invite me along,’ he said cheekily. ‘Will you?’

‘No, I won’t,’ she laughed. ‘I’ve had a day and a half, and I’m worn to a frazzle.’

‘Well, that’s a fine how-do-you-do,’ he teased. ‘Here’s me, come to see my future wife, and she’s turned me down before I’ve hardly asked.’ All the same, he didn’t seem to mind too much.

Nudging up to him on the settee, she said, ‘I’ve got something to tell you.’

‘Oh?’ His gaze shifted to the door. ‘Ruthie in bed, is she?’

‘Yes, why?’

‘Just wondered, that’s all.’ His smile was as bright as ever. ‘Did she say anything?’

‘What about?’ Bridget was genuinely puzzled. ‘School, is that what you mean?’

‘Of course I mean school. What else did you think?’ Curiously, he seemed relieved. ‘How did she get on?’