At that moment Ivy was creeping through the almost deserted streets to her home to say her goodbyes to her own family. Once she reached the house, which was little more than a slum, she slipped into the tiny kitchen and as usual she found her mother sitting at the side of a dying fire with a half-empty bottle of cheap gin in her hand. Her siblings were all fast asleep in bed and she rightly assumed that her father would be at the pub.

The woman looked mildly surprised to see her and greeted her with, ‘What are you doin’ here at this time o’ night? Come to bring us some money ’ave yer?’

‘No, I brought you my wages round last week,’ Ivy said meekly, suddenly feeling guilty. ‘I just came to tell yer that I’ll be goin’ away tomorrer … to live in London.’

‘London!’ Her mother’s mouth gaped slackly open. ‘But what about us? What’ll I do wi’out yer money?’

Ivy was profoundly hurt. Here she was telling her mother that she was about to embark on a new life but all she could think about was how it would affect the family.

‘Don’t worry,’ she said dully. ‘I shall be getting a job when we get there and I’ll send you some money each week.’

‘That’s all right then!’ Her mother sniffed as Ivy went on to explain why she was going.

‘Well, just so long as yer send us yer wages,’ the woman said coldly and Ivy left soon after with tears in her eyes. But then, she asked herself, had she really expected any other reaction? There had been no kiss, no good luck, just concern about the lack of money.

With a heartfelt sigh she set off into the cold night and began the journey back to her employer’s house.

When Holly came downstairs early the following morning, pale and with dark shadows beneath her eyes, she found Verity already up and Lily cleaning the fire grates out.

‘Come along, I insist you have a good breakfast inside you before you leave,’ Verity urged, nudging her towards the kitchen. ‘It’s not quite seven o’clock yet so you’ve plenty of time. Judging by the smell, Cook is already preparing it, if I’m not mistaken.’

They followed the enticing smell of frying bacon to the kitchen and soon after, the kindly cook placed the most enormous plate of food in front of her. There were juicy sausages, crispy bacon, mushrooms, fried bread and fried eggs and Holly’s stomach lurched at the sight of it. The last thing she wanted to do was eat at that moment but even so she didn’t wish to offend the cook so she gamely picked at it as Verity joined her at the table and watched her.

‘I’m off to meet Mrs Branning – you know, Sunday Branning from Treetops? – this afternoon,’ she said cheerfully in an attempt to lighten the mood. ‘She really is such an angel the way she looks after all the children she takes in. She has to buy some new clothes for some of them today, so I offered to go along with her to help.’ She had hoped that if she kept up a light-hearted chatter it might cheer Holly up a little, but her tactic didn’t appear to be working, as Holly stared lifelessly ahead, so in the end she remained silent as she ate her breakfast.