Chapter Three
Celia lay awake, waiting for her mother to fall asleep so she could go to Robert. She wished she could just have told her mother her intention, but, to her own shame, she had cowered from the task. Had it been Da, Celia knew she would just have said to him, ‘Da, I want to be with Robert tonight.’ For even if her father were to disapprove, she wouldn’t have felt threatened with losing his love. Mum was a different matter, and Celia had not yet shored up her courage.
Her mother’s breathing eventually grew steady and deep, and Celia knew she was sleeping. She was just about to rise from the bed when a bloodcurdling scream tore through the house. Celia and her mother both sat bolt upright.
“What in God’s name?” Mum looked at Celia, her eyes
