‘Oh, Tom. I’m so glad!’ Her eyes shone with joy, and for the moment nothing else mattered but that he had agreed to raise the child as his own. ‘You won’t regret it,’ she promised. ‘I’ll be a good wife to you. As long as I live, I swear I’ll never give you cause to feel ashamed.’

‘It’s too late for all that,’ he snapped. ‘What I’ve agreed to do carries a condition with it.’

‘What condition?’ She didn’t like the look on his face, a kind of insane satisfaction.

‘You must never speak to anyone of its real father.’ Grabbing her roughly by the shoulders, he shook her hard. ‘Not one word! Not even to the child itself.’

‘All right, Tom. I’ll abide by that condition.’ What else could she do?

‘And so you should!’ He was smiling unpleasantly. ‘As far as the world outside these four walls is concerned, your bastard will have been fathered by me, Tom Mulligan!’ With a stiff finger he jabbed himself in the chest. ‘Let them think that Tom Mulligan is as good as any man among them!’ A flicker of fear swept over his features. ‘Do you understand what I’m saying? Do you?’

‘Yes, Tom. I understand.’ It was what Bridget had hoped for, but not this way, with cruelty and hatred and self-serving pride.

‘And do you agree?’

She took a moment to think it through.

Where was the harm? Harry was not in a position to take on a child, and if she left here, without money and without a place to go, what would become of her? What would become of the child? How would they live? The prospect was frightening. On the other hand, Tom was offering her a way out, offering to take on another man’s child and to give them both a home. Clearly, the need to make himself seem a man among men outweighed his outrage at being cuckolded.

A thought suddenly came to her. Of course! That was what Mrs Louis had been talking about when she said her husband had taunted Tom at the party. Ted Louis must have sneered at Tom about him not having fathered a child up to now. And that must be the reason Tom had decided he wanted to move away. Yes! It was all becoming clear. This was a way of showing them all, and he could not do it without her help. In a way it gave her a measure of satisfaction.

‘You haven’t answered me!’ His voice penetrated her thoughts. ‘Do you agree?’

‘Yes,’ she answered quietly. ‘I agree.’

‘Good!’ Straightening himself to his full height, he flexed his shoulders, as though he’d just been relieved of a heavy burden. ‘Now then, woman, when I get back, I want to see you washed and cleaned up. We’ve still got a deal of talking to do, but first, I have other business to attend to.’ He narrowed his eyes. ‘You’ll never know what you’ve done to me this day, Bridget Mulligan.’