Another Man’s Child

Another Man’s Child
Anne Bennett

A moving family drama of one young woman’s fight to survive, to find her long-lost relatives and to find a place to call homeCelia Mulligan is in love with farm hand Andy McCadden, but when Andy asks her to marry him and she accepts, her father is furious – no daughter of his will marry a mere hireling. Celia elopes with Andy and they make their way by ship to England. While on board, Celia meets a demure young woman called Annabel who tells her in confidence that a friend of her father forced himself upon her and she has since fallen pregnant.Annabel plans to throw herself on her brother’s mercy and asks Celia if she will accompany her to Birmingham as her ladies maid. Without a job and with nothing to offer her, Andy encourages Celia to accept – he can find employment for himself and save for their future. But neither of them can foresee the events that will follow, and soon Celia will be forced to choose between the man she loves, and the love of a vulnerable child…

Copyright (#ua3d88705-3cbb-5370-877f-26d91e3d1aaa)

Published by HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd 1 London Bridge Street London SE1 9GF

www.harpercollins.co.uk (http://www.harpercollins.co.uk)

A Paperback Original 2015

1

Copyright © Anne Bennett 2015

Cover layout design © HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd 2015

Cover photographs © Gordon Crabb (woman and baby); Birmingham Museum Trust (street scene)

Anne Bennett asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.

Cottage photograph © Martin Logue

A catalogue copy of this book is available from the British Library.

This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.

All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins.

Source ISBN: 9780007359271

Ebook Edition © November 2015 ISBN: 9780007383276

Version: 2017-09-08

Dedication (#ua3d88705-3cbb-5370-877f-26d91e3d1aaa)

I dedicate this book to my cousins, Martin Logue of Redditch in the West Midlands, and Michael Mulligan from Dublin, with all my love and best wishes.

Table of Contents

Cover (#u2598a6cc-f739-5f10-b49d-d66991cb331b)

Title Page (#ue2395cc4-c9f9-5b04-9b2d-e2d9d7879616)

Copyright (#uaa893968-c9a5-5cd0-a4e0-5004dfcd312f)

Dedication (#u8d598a67-0625-5109-97b9-d516d30f4d83)

Chapter One (#u516494a9-43a5-5066-897b-30c997fee738)

Chapter Two (#uc077da20-1d08-5626-9e80-84e44e6c8432)

Chapter Three (#u08353de3-300c-5d7a-ac06-8dad3a4b2112)

Chapter Four (#ua914ddfe-7110-5f27-985a-1cec27fe0ef3)

Chapter Five (#u60e9c1c2-3269-5744-bda0-ece91f711884)

Chapter Six (#u517ae9f5-49e9-5083-9fa0-48ddf1ad59de)

Chapter Seven (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Eight (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Nine (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Ten (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Eleven (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Twelve (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Thirteen (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Fourteen (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Fifteen (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Sixteen (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Seventeen (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Eighteen (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Nineteen (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Twenty (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Twenty-One (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Twenty-Two (#litres_trial_promo)

Acknowledgements (#litres_trial_promo)

A Note From Anne (#litres_trial_promo)

About the Author (#litres_trial_promo)