‘Nell, love, you get your father a plate out and I’ll pop this in a pan.’

‘Leave it. I’ll do without.’

‘It won’t take a moment.’

‘I said leave it!’

Philip pushed Dora out of the way, picked up the basin of stew from under the cloth and hurled it to the floor.

‘There! I said I don’t want it, but would you listen? Now do you believe me?’

There was a shocked silence as they all surveyed the splatter of stew across the floor and the shards of the broken basin.

‘Phil—’ Dora began, trying to hold back her tears. She’d had such an enjoyable time playing cards with her friends, but the memory of the happy evening was fading fast.

‘It was you made me do that,’ Philip shouted at her. ‘It’s your fault, with your gallivanting, and free-spending of an evening instead of behaving like a proper wife. You try me to the end of my patience.’

It had usually been Gina whom he claimed tried his patience, but these days Dora and Ellen found themselves entirely in the firing line. But, even so, Ellen was determined to counter his unfair accusations.

‘Dad—’

‘Shut up, Ellen, or I’ll make you shut up.’

He raised his hand to strike her but Dora, knowing Ellen spoke only out of fairness to herself, grabbed hold of his arm and he turned on her instead, delivering her a swift, hard slap to the side of her head with his other hand. She recoiled, clutching her face, and tears sprang to her eyes.

‘Mum!’ Ellen rushed forward. ‘Let me see. Let me look where he hit you …’ She turned her back on her father and gave all her attention to Dora. ‘Sit down, Mum. There, now.’ She dug in her coat pocket for a handkerchief, ran it under the cold tap and pressed it gently to Dora’s red ear, then hugged her mother to her. ‘Don’t cry, Mum, don’t cry …’

Seeing his wife and daughter were ignoring him, Philip became even angrier.

‘Shut up, the pair of you. You’re like a couple of daft old hens, fussing about.’

Ellen made shushing noises and Dora’s weeping subsided, but neither of them paid him any other attention.

‘Come on up to bed, Mum,’ said Ellen. ‘You haven’t even taken your coat off yet. There, let me help you. Why don’t you sleep in my room, in Gina’s bed tonight?’

‘Aye, love, I think I will,’ said Dora, rising to her feet.

‘Oh, no you don’t. What about this mess?’ yelled Philip.

Ellen turned to him at last in disgust. ‘You made it, Dad, so you can clear it up.’ It took all her courage to stand up to him, having seen him punishing Gina for little more than cheek in the past, but she could not allow her mother to fight this battle alone.