‘Oh, there definitely wasn’t any mistake. He did walk off pretty quickly, it’s true, but then he came back after a couple of minutes. I saw him put his bag down beside the gate and he bent down and took something out.’ She pointed to the chisel. ‘And then he walked back up the path with that thing in his hand and he tucked it in beside the geraniums next to the doorstep.’ Isobel tapped the side of her nose. ‘I went out to investigate when I came downstairs and there it was, with the purple stripe matching the flowers, as though it had fallen there by accident.’

Ann sat down at the table and ran her finger along the painted handle. She sensed a link to a young man she would never meet. ‘You think he’ll be back?’ She was hard pressed to keep the hope from her voice.

‘Sure as eggs is eggs. It’s just a matter of when.’ Isobel picked up the chisel. ‘I’ll put this back where I found it, and perhaps by the time he’s ready to talk the two of you will have learned to stop dancing around one another and kidding yourselves there’s nothing going on.’

Chapter 41

June 1931

‘Do you think,’ said Ann to Isobel in the garden, as they hung the sheets on the washing line, ‘that the house will ever not smell of paint?’ She finished pegging out the last pillowcase. ‘I mean ever-ever? And will we be able to get rid of the dust from all the old wallpaper and plaster?’

‘But don’t you think it’s starting to look better?’ Isobel fitted the split end of the long wooden pole they used to hoist the washing line into position and pushed it upwards.

‘I suppose so. I would really have preferred more pattern in the rooms but wallpaper is so expensive, and Keith says plain walls are the thing now. Art Deco has arrived in Edinburgh, apparently.’

‘He is very meticulous.’

‘And so knowledgeable. I mean, I know it’s his trade, but I’m sure he’s saved me a lot in the cost of the materials. He said the other day that Ursula had made a good choice in selecting the Lincrusta paper for below the dado rails. He says it’s very hardwearing.’ Ann looked up at the sheets and pillowcases moving gently in the breeze. ‘Let’s sit here for a bit, away from the smell of that paint.’

‘You seem to have become a bit of an expert in wallpapers. I wonder how that could have come about?’