‘Eighteen months of muddle, by the look of these papers.’ Ursula turned back to the table and moved the tin of treacle and the flour canister to one side. ‘You don’t need to make excuses for how things are; I have eyes and I do understand how it’s been. But it’s time for me to sort out the housekeeping so things will run more smoothly in the future. I’ve waited until the year has turned, just to let everything settle down, but the sooner I start, the better.’ She lifted the ledgers and papers out of the drawer and set them out in piles on the table. ‘I’m well used to organising offices, after working as Mr Black’s secretary for the last three years here in Edinburgh, and at another company in London before that. Organising a household is not going to be so very different. I will try not to disturb your cake making. It is cake, I take it?’

‘Yorkshire parkin, miss.’

‘Very good.’ Ursula glanced at the parcel. ‘And I’ll open that later.’

Chapter 7

January 1911

The winter light had faded and the gas mantles had been lit by the time Ursula, with Isobel’s help, had managed to disentangle the threads of numbers in the main ledger. The leather-bound volumes from nineteen previous years were stored high up in one of the cupboards, and after studying three of the most recent books Ursula didn’t feel strong enough to spend hours poring through the rest of them. Her predecessor’s handwriting was unfamiliar and difficult to decipher, especially as the hand which had held the pen had obviously become shaky near the end. It seemed there had been little in the way of domestic financial management for some time, with sheaves of invoices to be cross-checked, and worryingly, some recent bills that were stamped UNPAID in red. When at last every set of figures had been entered into a new page in the ledger, and the columns added up, Ursula could see that there was a discrepancy of more than fifty pounds. She checked her addition and subtraction several times, but there was no doubt.

She knew she would need to talk to John about this to make sure there were no other bills unaccounted for or invoices outstanding. While it seemed a terrible thing to do, her instinct was to abandon the half-used book and begin again with a fresh set of accounts, and she decided to ask John to bring a new ledger home from the storeroom at the office. He had said he would leave her to organise the household, in fact he had seemed relieved about it, and she could now see why.

‘I need to check what there is in the pantry,’ Ursula said.

‘Of course,’ replied Isobel, her voice tight. She had watched the checking and rechecking of the columns of figures with increasing alarm.