As she said this, the scullery door was pushed open from the garden and Keith and Rab appeared.

‘Perhaps you would like to meet them? Keith, Robert, this is Mrs Sidcup. She is the mother of Olivia, who I hope will be joining us at number 25.’

Keith offered his hand, but it was ignored. He put it back in the pocket of his overalls. ‘Keith Anderson. It’s me that’s wallpapering the room for your daughter . . .’ he paused, ‘if she wants it, that is.’

Olivia smiled at Keith. ‘Oh, I do want it. I really do.’

Rab walked over to stand beside Isobel. ‘And I’m Robert Buchan.’

‘You’re Isobel’s fiancé, Miss Black told me.’ Beatrice Sidcup’s tone made it seem as though she doubted the truth of the matter.

He looked at her and stood a little taller. ‘Yes, that’s right, I am. We were talking about setting a date for the wedding just last week. We’re saving for a place of our own, but for the moment we live here.’

‘Is there anything else?’ said Ann. ‘Is that everything settled now?’

‘Twenty-two stairs,’ said Olivia. ‘Counting from the bottom, two, fifteen and five.’

‘Very good. You passed the test.’

Beatrice Sidcup knew when she was beaten. ‘It seems as though everything has been arranged rather more quickly than I was expecting.’ She picked up her handbag.

Ann looked at Olivia. ‘Before you leave, there are just a few rules you need to agree to. As soon as you are twenty-one you must register to vote. This is compulsory. And this is a vegetarian house; we don’t eat meat or fish here. Is that likely to be a difficulty?’

Olivia didn’t give her mother a chance to answer. ‘Not at all. It’s absolutely fine. I do have one question, if I may?’

Ann nodded.

‘What should I call you? Would you prefer Miss Black? Or Ann?’

Beatrice Sidcup butted in. ‘You must call her Miss Black; that’s only polite, of course.’

Ann shook her head, and her corkscrewed hair quivered. ‘Definitely not.’ She paused momentarily. ‘Ann is the name I was given when I was born, but I never liked it and I recently decided to change it. My brother used to call me something else.’ She looked across the room at Isobel and Rab, who were holding hands, and at Keith. ‘You may call me Annie.’

Keith looked back at her, and mouthed the three words he said to her, every single day.

1951

Chapter 50

April 1951

Census weekend