For a long moment he stood there, his hands on the table edge and his eyes fixed on her face; hard and accusing they bored right through her, but she didn’t flinch. Instead, she coolly returned his stare, her lips curled in a smile.

‘Well! Are you going or what?’ Her laughter was piercing, like the peals of high-toned bells.

He didn’t answer. He calmly collected his coat from the nail at the back of the door, and put it on.

Having gone at a smart pace, Bill arrived at Fanny’s house in record time.

Pausing outside the door, he straightened his tie and rubbed the front of his shoes over his trousers to make them shine. When he was satisfied, he tapped on the door. ‘I hope she’s up and about,’ he muttered worriedly. ‘Fanny gets in a powerful bad mood when she’s woken out of her beauty sleep.’

When after a few minutes there was no reply, he knocked again. After a third knock he began to get worried; peering in through the window and calling through the letter box, ‘Fanny! It’s Bill… Where the devil are you?’

A woman’s amused voice sounded directly behind him. ‘She’s not in there, dearie.’

Startled, he swung round. ‘I beg your pardon?’

‘I’m Lilian… from next door. I heard you shouting and, like I said, you’ll not find Fanny Higgins at home… not now and not for some long time, I shouldn’t wonder.’

‘Why not?’

‘Well, because she’s gone away.’

‘Fanny… where did she go?’

‘No idea. She just took off, and said not to expect her till I set eyes on her, that’s all I know.’

It was half an hour later when Bill returned home.

‘I knew you’d be back,’ his wife smirked.

His knuckles tightened at his sides. If only he had the courage, he thought.

But courage was difficult for a man like Bill Norman. So he bore her abuse in painful silence.

Chapter Eleven

It was Saturday morning on a cold February day. The young woman was a bit on the round side but very pretty, with fair hair and pale eyes. She had a lovely smile. But as she fingered the fabrics on the stall, she seemed disappointed. ‘I don’t think you’ve got what I’m looking for.’

Ever keen to please a customer, Bridget said, ‘If you tell me what it is you’re after, I might be able to get it for you.’

‘I’ll need it by four o’clock at the latest.’

‘I’ll do my best. What is it you’re wanting?’

‘I’ve been invited to Blackpool with a friend of mine, and she’s bringing along a couple of young men. I don’t go out all that often, so I don’t have much in the way of fancy clothes.’ Smiling shyly, she confided, ‘I really would like a pretty dress, and a coat, with big lapels and frilled cuffs. I can make it myself. I’d like something in a deep blue. I seem to suit blue.’