The girls began to stir. First Sarah sat up and then Mary turned over and put her nose above the blanket, and Ellen sat on their bed and gave them both a kiss. ‘Good morning, sleepyheads,’ she murmured, and smiled. ‘How are you this morning?’

‘Very well, fank you,’ Sarah piped, but Mary just closed her eyes and snuggled down again. ‘Where are we, Mama?’ Sarah looked round the small room. ‘Is this our new house?’

Ellen felt a lump in her throat; however would she keep them entertained all day without a garden to play in? Even in winter she used to dress Sarah in warm clothes and let her run around the garden to discover such treasures as winter snowdrops or aconites, or build a snowman, or even chase – but never catch – a rabbit.

‘It is,’ she said, ‘and a little later we’ll dress up warm and go out for a walk to see where we are.’

‘I know where I am,’ Sarah said, throwing back the blanket. ‘I’m in bed, but I’d like to go home now, please.’ She climbed out of bed and went towards her clothes, which were neatly folded on a chair.

‘First we wash, don’t we?’ Ellen said. ‘Come along, Sarah, you can be first. I’ve got some warm water for you to wash in.’

She moved the child’s clothes on to the bed and took the chair into the scullery for Sarah to stand on, then poured some of the warm water into the sink.

‘I’m not dirty,’ Sarah told her. ‘I’ve been in bed.’

‘I know, but you’ll feel fresh and clean after a wash. Come, climb on the chair and wash your hands and face.’

Sarah was a dutiful child and did as she was bid, but Ellen believed that when she was older she would mull over suggestions or instructions and make up her own mind whether or not to follow them. Ellen was happy with that. She liked to see independence in a child; when she and her sisters had been little, they had been encouraged by their mother to think for themselves.

Sarah said she could dress herself, so Ellen roused Mary, who was still snuggled down, and told her to come and wash whilst the water was still warm because there was porridge waiting for them. ‘I’m sure you’re hungry after that long sleep,’ she said, smiling.

‘Don’t want porridge,’ Mary said. ‘I’ll have bread.’

‘Porridge first,’ Ellen insisted, ‘and then bread, and then we must go and find a baker to buy a fresh loaf, and you can have ’crust if you like.’