Southport. I never thought to ask the name of it.â
Ben forced himself to concentrate on what his mother was saying. âYou should tell our Mick.â
âI canât! I donât feel up to explaining the whys and the wherefores, why I did what I did and why Iâve never told him.â
âThereâs always been the chance it would come out.â
âSo why didnât
you
tell him?â parried Kitty.
Ben shrugged. âIt wasnât my secret, and it was what you wanted.â
âAnd you know why!â She leaned closer towards him. âThereâs still a stigma to illegitimacy. I donât want her being ashamed of who she was
and
I still think I was right to do what I did. Sheâs turned out well, hasnât she?â
âYes, but â¦â Ben hesitated. âIf youâd told Mick, he might have gone looking for Celia, they could have got married and then Katie would have been legal.â
âItâs too late to think like that,â said Kitty crossly.
Ben did not think so. If Mick and Celia got together again it would leave the way clear for him and Sarah. What a thought! Suddenly he found his appetite and the discontented droop to his mouth lifted. âWhat if youâre right, though, Ma? And this Missââ
âTurner.â
ââ Miss Turner
is
Celia? What if she comes back?â
âDonât even think it!â There was utter dismay in Kittyâs eyes.
Ben was about to say sorry when the door opened and Mick entered. âI told her to come back later,â he said.
Immediately Ben forgot about Miss Turner. âI hope youâre not playing Sarah along?â he snapped.
âWhy should you care?â Mickâs eyes fixed on his brotherâs face and his gaze was intent. âShe hasnât exactly treated you like the beeâs knees.â
Benâs hands curled into fists and he leant across the table, growling, âHas she said anything to you about me?â
Mick said mildly, âKeep your hair on. Do you think Iâd be spending my time with a woman listening to her talk about
you
? Grow up! Whereâs my dinner, Ma? Iâm starving.â
Ben wanted to punch him in the face but knew that wouldnât do. They werenât kids any more. Then he thought of Miss Turner and whether she and Celia were one and the same and had a brainwave. He was going to search for the mysterious Miss Turner, and when he found her and proved her to be Celia, he would bring her back here.
The difficulty was he did not know the name of the hotel where she worked, but that shouldnât prove impossible to find if he used his nous. For a moment he considered the upset it would cause and almost changed his mind, but then he thought about Sarah and the constant heartache he lived with and of the fury he felt towards his brother. It would be one in the eye for Mick! As for his mother, she had lied from the best of motives and surely Katie would realise that? And if it proved to be that Miss Turner was not Celia, then no harm was done and Ben would have lost nothing by searching for her but his time.
Chapter Three
Celia Mcdonald hurried in the direction of the level crossing which divided the working-class Upper Aughton Road, where she lived, from the more affluent Lower Aughton Road. The barriers were down and she waited patiently for the Southport-Liverpool train to pass, watching as it rattled over the crossing in the direction of Birkdale Station. In her mindâs eye she imagined it passing the golf course and sandhills towards Ainsdale, Formby, Crosby and Waterloo. She visualised passengers alighting at Litherland and Seaforth, and remembered the overhead railway, or Dockersâ Umbrella as Liverpudlians had nicknamed it. She pictured the line of docks as the train approached the city, the tobacco warehouse and Bibbyâs factory, and could almost smell the oily odour of seeds and nuts being