“What do you mean?”

“Well, it should be a couple looking for a baby, not a woman on her own.”

“How does that make any difference?” Alice said grimly.

“Think about it . . . a couple are much more likely to be considered suitable, whereas on your own you tend to arouse suspicion.”

“That’s what Penny told me to do, with Michael’s help,” Alice said. “You’re probably right. I did consider it, but I didn’t want to inconvenience anyone. God, I’ve been such a fool!”

Ursula placed a hand on her arm. “Don’t say that. You’re not a fool—no one could be doing any more than you are now. I really don’t know how you’ve coped for so long.”

If only Theo were still there; if only she could have confided in him and got his help, she thought. But that seemed silly now.

“I’m not giving up, you know,” she said. “I’m going to keep on looking.”

“Of course you are, Alice. And I’ll completely support you.” Ursula withdrew her hand and started pinning back her hair. “I don’t think even my merciless family are capable of anything like this.”

Alice forced a smile.

“Anyway,” Ursula said, smiling at both their reflections, “the good news is that with me dressed like this, I think we’ll get away with it.”

Alice laughed for the first time in days.

“I’m serious!”

“You are?”

“Of course. If we make our approach as a couple looking for a child, it might be your best chance yet.” Ursula selected a trilby from her dressing table and tucked her auburn curls underneath so that only wisps showed above her ears. “I think I look the part,” she said, linking arms with Alice. “See, I told you, there will be no questions.”

Alice examined Ursula’s reflection and decided to acknowledge what had always remained unspoken between them. She knew that Ursula understood what it felt like to be an outsider, and to be judged and isolated because of it.

Their eyes met in the mirror, and Alice gave her a meaningful stare. “I know, Ursula.”

“Know what?”

“I know why you dress the way you do, why you act as if you don’t care.”

“About what?”

“About not being like the rest of us . . . about not wanting to have a man in your life.” Alice maintained eye contact. “But it doesn’t matter to me. It doesn’t matter in the slightest.”

Ursula placed the trilby back in its place and shook her hair free, then she turned to Alice. “Is that why you didn’t tell me about Eadie?”

“Partly. I didn’t think that motherhood was something we could talk about so easily.”

The bed was strewn with clothes, but Ursula cleared a space and indicated for Alice to sit down. “Perhaps with other people, Alice, but never with you.”

Alice smiled. “Is there someone special?”