‘I know, but it’s such a mess in here. We can’t use the parlour upstairs. Keith and Rab stripped the wallpaper off last week, remember? And the two of them work fast, but with the best will in the world they aren’t going to paper and paint a room that size overnight.’

‘Well, she can’t go into the old dining room. That’s your bedroom now and it would be too much effort to start moving furniture for what might be a ten-minute visit. So really, we don’t have much choice.’ Isobel bent down and ran her finger along the edge of the skirting board. ‘This place needs more than a quick clean. It’s the one room I haven’t been into properly.’

Ann sighed. ‘I know it’s my house and I should feel proud of it and want everything to be perfect, but it wasn’t me who asked her to visit with just a few days’ notice. I suppose we could plug in an electric fire to warm the place up a bit. Thank goodness Keith and Rab have finished the hall and the stairs, at least it looks respectable when you walk through the front door. But honestly, Isobel, why am I worried what a stranger will think about the decoration of my home?’

‘Everyone does. It’s human nature.’ Isobel walked around the room slowly, her fingers stroking the canvas dustcovers on the furniture. ‘You know, if you like how the room looks when we’ve got it clean and tidy then maybe we could all be sitting here with a roaring fire and some chestnuts on Christmas Day? Wouldn’t that be nice?’

Despite the cold wind, they opened all four of the sash windows, and began to get the room aired. They carried Keith’s tall A-frame ladders down the newly painted stairs very, very carefully, and started attacking the ornate cornice with feather dusters, before moving on to the lights. Ann steadied the ladder and Isobel climbed up to remove the glass globes, one at a time.

‘When were these last cleaned?’ said Isobel, horrified.

‘Not since you left, I don’t think.’

‘It’s a wonder anyone can see a hand in front of their face with the state of them. They need a proper wash and polish. I’ll go and put some hot soapy water in the sink. I’m sure we’ll soon have them looking much better.’

On her return from the kitchen Isobel brought the wireless with her and plugged it in. The Home Service was broadcasting music, which seemed to speed up their work.

They removed several years’ worth of spiders’ webs from the corners, and when Keith and Rab came home at lunchtime, they helped to take down the heavy crimson velvet curtains and hung them over the washing line in the back garden for a good beating.