‘The swine!’ said Audrey, squeezing out a cotton wool ball and dabbing antiseptic ointment on the grazes on Lily’s legs and arms. ‘That no-good swine! I’ve a mind to take the kettle to his skull. You know we could call the police on him? Did he deliberately push you down the steps, Lily? It’s almost as if wanted to have shot of you— God forbid. Keep still, this might sting.’

Lily and Elsie’s eyes met and despite the tension in the room, they shared a small secret smile. There was nothing so unlikely as gentle Audrey hitting anyone over the head with a kettle. But the mention of the police made Lily nervous. Yes, Henry had pushed her as she tried to pass him, but she was sure he hadn’t meant for her to fall down the steps. That was clear from the fear in his eyes. Besides, he’d obviously had a skinful. Despite how much she now despised Henry, she didn’t think he was actually trying to kill her!

‘He was terribly drunk,’ Lily said. ‘I’ve never seen him like that.’

‘Do you think he’ll come back?’ said Elsie.

Lily flinched as Audrey dabbed more ointment on her cuts and bruises, thankful that the injuries were just superficial. Or so it seemed, anyway. Casting her eyes down to the gentle curve of her body under her dress, she privately fretted. She had recently been amazed to feel the baby somersaulting around in her womb – like a trapeze artist – but since Henry’s shove, the baby had been completely still.

‘He’ll not be round here again,’ said Charlie, washing his hands in the sink. ‘Makes you wonder what went through his head, what with you expecting an’ all. Doesn’t bear thinkin’ of, does it? I think Audrey has told you that we’ll help you, Lily, if you… if you decide, oh you know what I’m sayin’.’

‘Thank you,’ said Lily. She had been convinced that Charlie resented her presence at the bakery, but tonight he had defended her. ‘Thanks for sticking up for me out there.’

‘Nothing to thank me for,’ he said. ‘Anyone with an ounce of decency in their bones would have done the same.’

Audrey put the cotton wool down next to the bowl of water, grabbed Charlie by the hand and pulled him towards her. ‘No they wouldn’t,’ she said, tiptoeing to kiss him on the lips. ‘He could have done Lily serious damage if it wasn’t for you stepping in. You’re a hero.’

‘Don’t talk rot,’ Charlie said, crossly, unwrapping her arms from around him and leaving the room, muttering under his breath, ‘I’m no hero.’

Audrey recoiled like a wounded animal, sighed deeply but quickly recovered, busying herself by stuffing the cotton wool into a packet. Lily’s heart went out to her stepsister. Though Charlie was evidently a strong and kind man, he had the ability to crush Audrey with just a flick of his tongue. It wasn’t that he raised his voice or spoke to her in a stern manner, like her own father did to Daphne, it was something more subtle, as if he silently blamed her for something, but wasn’t saying what.

‘Let me fill the tin bath with warm water for you, Lily,’ Audrey said. ‘All the five-inch ration of it!’

‘Thanks Audrey,’ she said, resting a hand on her bump. ‘I can’t stop shaking and shivering. Henry was like a different man to the one I knew. So full of anger and hatred.’

‘Full of fear more like,’ said Audrey, topping up the teapot. ‘He doesn’t hate you, Lily. In fact he obviously liked you very much at one time. I reckon he’s terrified of what he’s done and it’s soul-crushing guilt that’s turned his insides mean and sour. I see it with my Charlie all the time in different ways. When he’s needled about something it comes out as about another matter entirely. Men are a riddle, but it doesn’t take a genius to work them out. Henry Bateman is scared stiff his new, stuck-up wife will find out about you and that’s about the sum of it.’

Lily shivered again and Elsie took off her cardigan and draped it over her shoulders and poured her another cup of strong tea.

‘Thank you,’ said Lily, watching her hands tremble as she lifted the cup to her lips.

Henry’s cruel words ran through her mind on repeat. Dirty little secret. His behaviour made her, for the first time, feel protective of the baby growing inside her and, when she felt it move again, an unfamiliar surge of what she could only guess was maternal love, or relief perhaps, powered through her. Confusing thoughts and emotions plagued her and she pulled Elsie’s cardigan tighter over her shoulders.

‘Oh blimey,’ she said as the five-pound note that Henry had given her fell to the floor. Dropping them onto the table as if the notes were on fire, she shook her head. The presence of the money made her feel even more ashamed, as if she was no better than the street girls who frequented disreputable establishments in certain parts of town.

‘What the heck is that?’ said Elsie. ‘Five pounds? Did he give you this?’

‘You’ll have to give it away,’ said Audrey. ‘Donate it to charity. I’m sure the Children’s Society would be glad of it.’

‘Why don’t you keep it as payment for my board,’ Lily said. ‘That money was owed to me. When Henry sacked me he didn’t pay me for all the weeks I’d worked there. I’ll not have it myself, but I’d like it if you kept it.’

Audrey refused the money, but Lily decided she would secretly put it in her cash tin, or in the bureau drawer with all her paperwork, for her to find at a later date.

‘I’ll decide what to do with it tomorrow,’ she said, standing shakily on her legs. ‘I’m so tired and these bruises are aching.’

In the bath, listening to Audrey and Elsie talking in quiet, serious voices about what had happened that night, Lily inspected the pale skin stretched over her bump, running her finger over the red welts that Henry had left with the pointed end of his umbrella – and where she’d fallen down the stone steps. The Henry she’d seen earlier bore no resemblance to the Henry she had fallen for at the Ministry of Information. ‘I’m sorry,’ he had said, revealing a flash of his former self. ‘I didn’t mean to hurt you.’

Lily breathed deeply, trying to make sense of the last few hours, but feeling overcome with tiredness. Drying off and pulling on her underwear, she stopped dead when she noticed a drop of bright red blood in her white undies.

‘Oh please God, no,’ she said, fresh tears leaping into her eyes.

---

The doctor ordered complete bed rest for Lily and, as keeper of the doctor’s orders, Audrey spent the next few days running up and down the stairs from the shop floor to Lily’s bedroom as often as she could be spared from the bakery to keep up her spirit and strength.

‘Bought you some hotpot, bread, vitamin A and D,’ she said, bringing in a tray of nourishing food and placing it on the side table for Lily who, most days, was sat up in bed gazing out the window deep in thought, or sitting with her pen poised over a writing pad, balls of scrunched-up paper on the floor, her copper hair hanging loose and beautifully contrasting against the white skin of her pale shoulders.

‘I need to write to my father and Daphne,’ said Lily, showing her carefully written words with lines drawn through them. ‘But I can’t find the words.’

Though Audrey chose carefully who she told about Lily’s condition, news ripped through the neighbourhood like wildfire and the very idea of Audrey’s stepsister in trouble, despite her being an unmarried girl, touched some of Bournemouth’s bigger hearts. Even Pat brought round a basket of wool and needles, so that Lily could get on with some knitting for the Forces while she lay in bed.

‘Can’t have you sitting there in bed bone idle,’ Pat said, while Audrey winked at Lily. ‘There are jobs need doing even when you’re laid up.’

Though Lily had rested well, she was in low spirits and confided in Audrey that she was missing her father dreadfully. ‘He must be feeling the same,’ Audrey told her. ‘Why don’t I write on your behalf?’

So, Audrey wrote a short letter to Victor and Daphne saying that she was planning to visit London because there was an important family matter they needed to discuss. She gave a date and time for her visit and, taking the letter to the post office, anguish swept through her. The rift between her and Daphne and Victor had gathered momentum over the years, but now Lily needed all of their support. Daphne had used to be a kind, warm-hearted woman who loved William and Audrey, but when her husband died the grief seemed to suffocate her spirit. When she married Victor she changed, and their mother–daughter relationship disintegrated. Perhaps Lily’s baby would be the glue to bring them back together. Her family might be badly broken, thought Audrey, but was it beyond mending?