Occasionally, when Nelly helped at the bedside, she cast him an encouraging glance. It helped him bear the sight of blood and Bridget’s pitiful moans. At least she’s alive, he told himself, but it was no thanks to him. ‘God help her,’ he murmured. ‘God help us both.’

His prayers were answered, for no sooner had he uttered them than there was a flurry of activity at the bedside. Bridget gave a heart-rending scream, and a moment later came the cry of a newborn.

‘Oh, Bridget!’ Nelly was crying unashamedly. ‘It’s all right, lass. You’ve done it, bless your heart.’

While the doctor saw to Bridget, Nelly cleaned the child and wrapped it in a shawl. ‘Look here.’ Bringing it to Tom, she told him softly, ‘You’ve got a daughter, Tom Mulligan. A lovely little lass, the image of her daddy.’

For a moment he thought she must know the truth. But then he gazed down on the child and his heart stood still. ‘My God!’ With the brightest blue eyes and a soft down of fair hair, that tiny creature could well have been his own. But he knew differently, and with Nelly’s next words, said quite innocently, his illusions were shattered. ‘O’ course newborns always have blue eyes,’ she said. ‘Babies change all the time, until they’re a few months old, when their colouring sets proper.’

Disillusioned but immensely grateful that all was well, Tom went to wait downstairs. ‘Call me if she asks,’ he told Nelly, and Nelly promised she would.

When the doctor took his leave, Nelly brought Tom upstairs. ‘A few minutes, that’s all,’ she cautioned. ‘The lass needs her rest. She’s lost a lot of blood and she’ll be weak as a kitten for some long time yet. Keep her warm and quiet and feed her on broth, that’s what the doctor said.’ There was something else too. ‘She can’t be moved, not for at least a week, and maybe longer. I don’t have much money, so if you can pay for her keep, I’d be obliged.’

‘Don’t worry,’ Tom reassured her. ‘I’ll see she has all she needs, and I’ll make sure you don’t lose out because of all this.’ A thought occurred to him. ‘The doctor’s bill must have cost a pretty penny, I’ll be bound.’

Nelly skirted the issue. ‘You’d best say hello. She’s been asking for you.’

When, a short time later, Tom sat at Bridget’s bedside, his heart turned over to see her smiling up at him when he’d been such a bastard to her. ‘I’m sorry,’ he murmured. ‘I wasn’t there when you needed me.’ Trembling, he held back the tears, but when she reached out, he buried his head in the nape of her neck and sobbed like a child. ‘Can you forgive me? Oh, Bridget, can you ever forgive me?’

For a few precious moments, Bridget kept him there, stroking his hair and whispering that she understood, and it was all right.

‘I love you,’ he whispered. ‘I always will.’