Ben takes his lead from Tess. ‘You aren’t disturbing us. I live here too, with my daughters. Being a lodger has been an interesting experience.’ He has no idea who this woman is, but Tess doesn’t look as though she needs any help. He picks up his notebook. ‘I think I’ll go and make us all a cold drink.’ He leaves them to chat, and heads for the kitchen, hoping against hope that the girls have remembered to refill the ice cube tray.

Tess knows there is nothing for Nicola to worry about. All she can do is try to make her feel comfortable. She smiles again at her fellow lodger.

‘A long time ago, Georgia told me that one day you would come back to number 25. I can’t wait to let her know you are here.’

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Parkin

Parkin is often known as Yorkshire parkin, and is sometimes eaten on Bonfire Night. If you’ve never tasted it, try to imagine a sticky, oaty gingerbread which simply has to be eaten slowly.

Isobel baked it in the kitchen of 25 Library Terrace in 1911, and both Annie and Georgia used it to great effect as the years passed, either to silence their visitors, or to create a situation where their potential lodgers felt compelled to speak to avoid an awkward silence.

There are many recipes online for parkin, and they are all slightly different. This is mine.

Preheat your oven to 130C if it’s a fan oven, or 140C for conventional.

You’ll need what used to be called a 2 pound loaf tin which measures about 21cm x 11cm.

If you have greaseproof paper liners for the tin, that’s a help.

Ingredients

60g salted butter

50g dark soft brown sugar

40g golden syrup

85g treacle

110g medium oatmeal

50g self-raising flour

1 teaspoon ground ginger

0.5 teaspoons nutmeg

0.5 teaspoons mixed spice

1 egg

25ml milk

Method