‘There’s no need,’ Isobel replied. ‘The ledgers are in the last drawer, the one with the key. Everything is written down, and the order book and the invoices are kept there too. Mrs Black,’ she paused before correcting herself, ‘the late Mrs Black was very particular.’ She straightened her back. ‘She was always checking up on things.’

Ursula didn’t reply, wondering briefly if her predecessor had good reason for scrutinising the work of the young woman in front of her.

Isobel tried again. ‘I can take the ledgers out for you so you can go through them, if you like? I could put them in the dining room. It’s warmer than the parlour upstairs.’

‘What did the late Mrs Black do?’

‘She did it all on a Monday, sitting in the drawing room at Mr Black’s desk – before she got too unwell, of course.’

‘And is the fire lit in the drawing room?’

Isobel shook her head and hastened to explain. ‘I thought everyone was going to be out all day today and if that’s the case I don’t light it again until three o’clock in the winter, and only then if Mr Black is entertaining. Everyone usually just goes straight upstairs to the parlour after dinner.’ She began to undo her kitchen apron. ‘I’ll go and light it now.’

‘That won’t be necessary.’

‘But I thought—’

‘The dining room is warm because the fire is still alight from breakfast, yes?’

Isobel nodded. ‘I need to add more coal, though, and open up the damper if you’re going to be in there.’

‘Perhaps for today, I will just sit here at this table in the kitchen and work my way through all the papers and books.’

‘You want to sit in the kitchen?’

Ursula looked at Isobel’s scandalised face. ‘It’s warm. It’s clean. You have scrubbed the floor this morning; the mop is drying out there,’ she pointed towards the scullery, ‘I can see it from where I’m standing.’

‘Yes, Mrs Black. I wash it down twice a day.’

‘I will undoubtedly have many questions and I don’t want to walk back and forth from the dining room every time there is something I need to clarify. There is no point in me asking John,’ she corrected herself, ‘Mr Black, because judging by the fullness of the drawer, all he has done is pay the bills without filing anything.’

‘He has been very busy.’ Isobel was defensive. ‘And it’s been nearly eighteen months since Mrs Black . . .’