“Quite a lot,” said Fagus.

A cab drew up and they went out to meet it. Enid spoke to the driver: “Can you take him to Castlemere School? They’ll pay the fare.”

“Shall you not come with me?” said Fagus at the open window.

“I have to catch my train.” She leant in and kissed him quickly, her cheek against his while the cab chugged vapours into the warm May air.

Enid, 1928

31

Enid, 1928

Dear Dodo,

On Sunday Nanny came for Ian. “Enid the brute” happened to be having a bath, so I saw Nanny she said she was dressing my dolly; After, she had gone when I was tidying my cupboard I wanted so much to see you, that I cryed! It seems babyish to say that but I did.

Once when Peel didn’t want to take us to church and, “Enid the brute” was not going, she went down and had a lot of talk with Peel, came up again and put me strait to bed for the rest of the day and i was in bed from 11’oc till the next morning.

Will you pay for the stamp’s of the letters I send because I dere not buy stamp’s ‘cos I might get into trouble. I am sorry it is such a short letter but I must get up now. Don’t write back or I will get into trouble.

Love from your always loving

Moppet

xoxoxoxoxo

Enid folded the letter and stuffed it into the pocket of her skirt. The Rolls was waiting in the street with Ian in it. It was lucky she’d checked his suitcase. She’d found notes like this before. She clipped it shut and called down the hall, “Peel? Come and get his things.”

From the sitting-room window she watched Peel hand the suitcase to Duncan. Over a year had passed since Ian arrived – that’s what she called it now, arrived – as if he’d come in a cab with a suitcase too.

She looked in on Finetta, little spy that she was. She’d thought she’d stopped the messages in their tracks until she’d started finding notes hidden in Ian’s suitcase. How many had got through that she wasn’t aware of? How many had been posted in secret?