‘And you’ve nothing I might take in the meantime?’ Glenys asked hopefully. ‘Most of the shops have sales after Christmas; I thought I might get a temporary post in one of the big stores . . .’ She would have continued, but the clerk was shaking her head.

‘With a hundred people jostling for every job and no previous retail experience you wouldn’t stand a chance,’ she said. ‘Tell me, Miss Trent, have you considered returning to your home and trying there for work?’

Miss Trent opened her mouth to explain and closed it again. It was pointless after all and would only embarrass the woman if she replied, truthfully, that there was nowhere she could honestly call home. So she smiled and shook her head but did not go into detail. ‘I’m living in lodgings at present,’ she said evasively. ‘But there’s good sense in what you say, and I’ll take your advice. I’ll speak to the Education Department around the tenth of January, when in my experience temporary staff are beginning to be needed.’

The clerk stood up and held out her hand. ‘Goodbye, Miss Trent, and good luck. If you don’t find work before you are eligible to start drawing the dole, come back to me and I’ll help you to fill in the forms.’

‘Thank you,’ Miss Trent said, trying to infuse gratitude into her tone, for the woman was only trying to help her. But I don’t intend to draw the dole, she told herself as she left the office. After all, I’ve a term’s salary, which should keep me going for some time if I can find cheaper lodgings, and so far as I remember the rules I can’t draw on government support until my money runs out.

She let herself out of the office and tried not to notice the long queue of men who looked up hopefully as she closed the door behind her, then sank into apathy once more. And now, she told herself, turning towards Miss Taylor’s lodgings, for the worst part. I must tell Myrtle that I’ve been dismissed and can’t join her in the flat over the greengrocer’s shop until I get another job, by which time she will have found someone else to share with, I’m sure.

An hour later Miss Trent left the house on Daisy Street feeling a little better, for Miss Taylor had been extremely understanding and had been loud in her condemnation of the way the board of governors had behaved. ‘I’m afraid I shall have to get someone else, though, Glenys,’ she had said regretfully. ‘The rent’s pretty reasonable really with two sharing but far too much for me on my own, even though I get a decent salary by most people’s standards. Mind you, if you’re desperate, you’d be very welcome to sleep on the floor – or even the sofa if my aunt lets me have her old one.’

‘Thanks, Myrtle,’ Glenys said. ‘It’s awfully nice of you, but I’m going to stay on at Mrs Stockyard’s for the time being.’ She saw the worry lines smoothe from her friend’s face and knew that kindly though the offer was meant, Myrtle would have to spend a considerable time trying to find another person to share the flat as it was, and Miss Trent had no wish to further complicate her friend’s life.