The wind picked up and swept around the house’s timber boards. It blustered through every c***k and rattled loose windowpanes when Patricia brought Molly Hamilton’s baby back. Even after applying powder to her face, it was impossible to disguise the swelling on her cheek completely. Lillian wondered if Mrs Hamilton chose not to notice, grateful instead that her most pressing concern was going to be taken care of.
There was no point in continuing to judge Patricia any more than she already had. Peter and Thomas swarmed excitedly about their mother’s skirts as her sister plunked the little bundle down on the kitchen table and unwrapped the delicate white blanket he came wrapped in to reveal spindly arms and legs.
‘I think it’s ugly,’ Peter announced and turned away.
The baby boy lay on th
