"It's alright. Everythin'll be alright." Lottie answered. She hoped she would believe her words herself. But the Wards were adrift as a family and Lottie was uncertain for they're future. Ben Ward could stay in the gaol, as far as she was concerned, for the pain he'd caused his family; Alice Ward, well, she'd made her bed and now had to lie in it. Anne might still be saved, to be raised and nurtured into a grown young woman. Maybe a nurse, or shopgirl, or ladies companion.

It would have been easier for Lottie if Anne had just been an orphan. Lottie would have taken her in to raise her as another daughter: surname, new Sunday dress and all - but that was not how life was working out, despite the older woman's wishes. The best she could do was provide maternal guidance. Unless Anne made that choice for herself.