‘Annie was born in 1898, so she was eight years old when she was sent this . . . this tirade.’ Georgia is quietly furious. ‘Eight years old! And she had been sent to boarding school at that age. Imagine getting a letter not just berating you for whatever you have done or not done, but salt being rubbed into the wound by telling you how sad your brother is. And then adding all that nonsense about the strawberry cream tea you are going to miss.’

Tess doesn’t know what to say.

‘It’s inhuman. That’s what it is.’

‘Are you sure it was sent to Annie? It definitely just says Ann.’

‘She changed her name. I think she was in her thirties when she did it. I don’t know why. Ann and Annie are pretty close anyway. Finlay was her brother, and she told me once, near the end of her life, that his pet name for her was Annie Bee. Maybe that was the reason. We’ll never know, will we?’

‘Is it not an odd thing to do, though, change your name halfway through your life?’

‘Is it? Women do it all the time when they marry, even though they don’t have to.’

‘I’ve never thought of it like that.’

‘A name defines who you are, and if you’re living your life with a name that doesn’t fit, or perhaps one that has bad associations, then why not change it?’ Georgia picks up the letter and peers at it. ‘Annie said that Ursula’s father changed his name. He came to this country as a child, and he was called Bernhard Schmidt. He became an engineer and when he set up his business, he changed his name to Bernard Smith. She said that his father, back in Germany, never spoke to him again.’

‘And you’ve never seen this before?’