Bridget hugged her tight. ‘I don’t know what I’d do without you.’

‘Oh, you’d manage. You’ve got what it takes. And yer not the only one with a little secret.’ Pointing to her own stomach, Fanny confided, ‘I’ll bet mine will be here weeks afore yours.’

When Bridget’s face opened with astonishment, Fanny laughed. ‘That’s right, me beauty. We’re a pair o’ softies together, because I couldn’t get rid of mine either.’

There was laughter, and a few tears, and after a while Bridget went on her way, a wiser, braver woman.

The truth had to be told, and the consequences faced up to, and if Tom chose to throw her out on the streets, she wouldn’t blame him for it.

The party had gone with a swing. They were merry to a man, and now, with the evening drawing to a close, Tom prepared to leave. ‘I’d best be off,’ he told the hard-drinking quarrymen. ‘The missus hasn’t been too well, as you know, and even with Nelly watching over her, it’s not right to leave her for too long.’ He’d had a good night, and now it was time to go.

‘Aye, and I’d best be away an’ all,’ Dave Grundy declared. ‘Me own wife’s due to birth any minute. She’d skin me alive if it happened tonight while I were here having a bloody good time.’

Laughter greeted his remark, but Ted Louis, a burly fellow with a nasty scar across his lip, had something snide to say. ‘We all know about that,’ he guffawed, his sly gaze going to Tom, whom he disliked. ‘There’s not one of us here who ain’t fathered a heap o’ young’uns – all except for Tom Mulligan.’ His lips curled in a sneer. ‘I reckon ’e don’t know how to do it right. Happen one of us should show him, eh?’

A terrible silence fell on the party, all eyes on Tom who had turned to face his tormentor.

‘Leave him be, Ted,’ one man warned. ‘It ain’t his fault. It could happen to any one of us.’

‘Naw!’ Ted was obviously looking for a fight. ‘Not if you’re a man, it couldn’t.’ By now Tom was making his way across the room, his hard, glittering eyes fixed on the burly man.

‘Shut your mouth!’ Dave Grundy gave Ted a push. ‘It ain’t his fault, I tell you! It runs through the family. Him and his brother both.’

Tom grabbed Ted by the throat. ‘You bastard! I’ll have your bloody head off your shoulders!’ But before a fight could start, the two of them were quickly separated.

‘Go home, Tom,’ one of the men said quietly. ‘He’s a loudmouth. Don’t let him goad you.’

Ted was manhandled out of the back door, and Tom out of the front.

‘You’re a better man than he’ll be any day of the week,’ Dave Grundy told Tom. ‘Remember that, and get off home to your wife.’

Struck to the heart, Tom went on his way, bitter and disillusioned. It wasn’t the first time his manhood had been questioned. And if men like Ted Louis had their way, it would not be the last.