Bridget was momentarily taken aback by the love that shone from Fanny’s eyes and for one very intimate moment she knew she was witnessing a side to Fanny she had never seen before. ‘Bring him up,’ she said. ‘I want to see what a difference a week makes.’

Fanny shook her head. ‘In a while,’ she said. ‘Billy’s happy enough downstairs with Nelly for now and besides, I’ve a feeling you need to talk.’

‘It can wait.’

‘There’s no time like the present, gal. You say it’s better between you and Tom, so why do you think he won’t be able to cope?’

Bridget had spent many hours in this room thinking things through, and the more she thought, the more unsure she felt. ‘I just wonder if it’s too much to ask of him,’ she answered. ‘You already know how badly he took it all, and how like strangers we were becoming.’

‘I know that, gal, but you said he’d been better since you had the bairn.’

‘That’s true, but deep down I know he’s never forgiven me, and never will.’ With a sense of shame she revealed. ‘On the night I started with the bairn, he was with a woman. He brought her to the house and I saw the two of them…’ Bridget blushed to the roots of her hair. ‘It’s no more than I deserve.’

‘Did he throw you out? Is that what you’re trying to say?’

‘No, he didn’t go as far as that, but he might as well have. When I started with the bairn, I found him drunk out of his mind. I don’t know how I got to Nelly’s front door.’

‘He was a pig to do what he did, gal,’ Fanny said, ‘but happen he needed to get back at yer for what you did to him. Have yer thought of that?’

‘It crossed my mind.’

‘And has it crossed your mind that he’s got it out of his system now and he really means to do the best he can with what he’s got? He’s seen the child and happen he’s fallen in love with her. Happen he means to put it all behind him now. He has the family he’s always wanted, and nobody knows the truth…’ Glancing anxiously at the door, she whispered, ‘At least nobody who would ever tell.’

‘I hope you’re right, Fan.’

‘Is he rid of the bitch he brought home?’

‘So Nelly says.’

‘And has he talked it through with you?’

Bridget nodded. ‘He says it will never happen again, that he wants us to be a family, and though he knows it won’t happen overnight, he swears he’ll do his best for all of us.’

‘But you don’t believe him, is that it?’

Bridget’s answer was a long time coming, and when she finally did answer, it was with a long, weary sigh. ‘In all the time we’ve been together, I swear Tom has never lied to me. Yes, I do believe he means what he says. If he tells me he’ll do his best to make us a family, then he will.’