Anne was reluctant to let go, but had to when Lottie lowered herself to look her in the eye. Anne's eyes had filled with tears and one rolled down as she blinked. In that moment, she wanted to shout out that she wanted to stay here, that she wanted to be Mrs. Blacke's daughter. But fear of what would happen after froze her tongue.

She quickly wiped her eyes and nodded. "Thank ye, Mrs. Blacke," she managed to say. "Ye're like a mother to me and I think me mam would be very grateful if she knew all ye did fer me. Ye'll always be like me own mam, even if me dad forbids me seein' ye."

Then she wiped her eyes again, took a deep breath, and opened the door. She walked down the stairs slowly, her knees weak, her face red.

As soon as she could see her father, she looked at his face. He didn't look angry. She decided to appeal to his affectionate side, ran the last few steps, and flung her arms around him, hugging him. "I'm so glad they released ye, dad."