'You must have come back very early,' she said, and immediately realised that she sounded as though she were accusing her mother. 'You look tired,' she said then, trying to soften her tone. 'Declan wasn't well again this morning,' her mother said coldly. Declan stared at her. The bruising on his nose had become darker, almost purple, and seemed to have spread; yet there was a strange contentment in the way he lay without moving. He did not appear to be in any pain. 'Are the boys up yet?' she asked. 'They're being fed by your granny,' her mother said. 'She's in her element — she thinks she's running a guesthouse again. It's rashers and sausages and how would you like your eggs?' 'If we had rashers,' Declan said hoarsely, 'we could have rashers and eggs, only we've no eggs.' 'You've been saying that since you were about five,' Helen said, laughing, 'and I've never thought it was funny.' 'Go in and have your breakfast before they eat it all,' her mother said. When Helen went into the kitchen, Larry was talking and her grandmother was giving him her full attention.
