‘You could always catch a train down here and bring Daisy to meet us all,’ said Anne hopefully. ‘We’d love to see you, really we would, and it would give you a chance to talk to Charlie face-to-face. He might listen to you.’

‘I can’t,’ Peggy said brokenly. ‘I have responsibilities here and at the factory – and the journey is too long to come just for a weekend.’

‘Then there’s nothing either of us can do until the end of summer,’ said Anne rather purposefully. ‘I’m sorry to have been the bearer of such disappointing news, Mum, but I promise faithfully that when we do come home, I shall bring Charlie, even if I have to get Martin to carry him kicking and screaming onto the train. He’s getting too big for his boots, if you ask me, and although Bob has done his best to keep him in line, he really needs a man’s firm hand.’

‘Oh dear,’ said Peggy on the verge of tears once again. ‘He always was a handful.’

‘He still is,’ said Anne flatly.

Peggy was desperate to end this awful telephone call, so when Cissy wandered into the hall, she saw a way to escape. ‘Cissy’s here. I’ll hand you over.’ Before Anne could reply, she thrust the receiver at a startled Cissy and fled upstairs to lock herself in the bathroom.

Grabbing a towel, she pressed her face into it to smother the sound of her wracking sobs. She’d waited so long to have them all home and now her hopes were dashed, and all the lovely dreams she’d had of being a proper family again were shattered.

‘What’s going on, Anne?’ Cissy asked. ‘What have you been saying to Mum to make her cry?’

‘Oh, no,’ sighed Anne. ‘I didn’t mean to do that.’

‘Well, you did, so you’d better explain.’

Anne went into a long explanation to justify her side of the telephone conversation. ‘How was I to know she’d take it all so badly?’ she said some time later. ‘She’s well aware of the life we’ve made for ourselves down here and surely must see that we can’t just drop everything at a moment’s notice? And the farm really is the best place for Martin to rest after all he’s been through. Our tenants in the cottage have another three months on their lease, and with Beach View no doubt still packed to the gunnels, he wouldn’t be able to cope with all the noise and comings and goings.’

‘I do understand your point of view,’ Cissy replied, keeping her tone reasonable despite her rising anger. ‘But you should have at least warned her before now that it would be some time before you’d all be home – and not leave it until the last minute to drop your bombshell.’