‘Oh, I see.’ The woman looked Holly up and down. The girl was very neatly turned out and she spoke beautifully too. ‘Have you had experience of shop work before?’ she enquired and Holly coloured slightly as she shook her head.

‘No I haven’t … but I’d work very hard and I’m a fast learner.’

‘Hmm.’ The woman strummed her fingers on the counter. She had been hoping for someone who had experience of shop work but up to now the girls and women who had applied for the job had been totally unsuitable. ‘I see. Are you any good with figures?’

‘Oh yes,’ Holly assured her. ‘I had a private tutor and I’ve always been very good at figures.’

‘Then let me show you round and tell you what the job entails,’ the woman said and proceeded to show her what was in the various drawers and cupboards. There were gloves and scarves, a selection of ladies’ underwear, all made of the best quality silk, and stockings and suspenders and almost anything a woman could need. At the other end of the shop were long shelves containing bolts of material in all the colours of the rainbow which would be made into gowns for Miss May’s customers. Through a door at the back of the shop Holly could hear the whirr of sewing machines.

‘That’s the workshop,’ the woman informed her. ‘I employ two seamstresses full time to make or alter the gowns that are bought from here. The hours you would be expected to work are eight till five every weekday and eight till twelve on Saturday. Could you manage that?’

‘Oh yes,’ Holly agreed enthusiastically. Miss May, as she then introduced herself, went on to tell Holly of the wage she could expect. ‘I would give you a month’s trial at fifteen shillings a week and then if you proved to be satisfactory I will increase it to eighteen and sixpence.’

Again Holly nodded.

‘Good. I shall expect you to serve the customers when they enter the shop and always show them respect. There will be times when I have to be out buying the items that the seamstresses don’t make and in my absence you would be in charge.’

Holly looked a little disturbed at that but the woman assured her, ‘Don’t worry, for the first few days you will watch me. I wouldn’t dream of asking you to use the till or be here alone until you felt quite confident that you could manage. Finally, I must warn you that I am a stickler for punctuality. I won’t tolerate someone who comes in late.’

‘Oh, I would never do that,’ Holly assured her and the woman smiled.

‘Then in that case I am happy to offer you the job as my assistant on a month’s trial starting next Monday morning at eight o’clock sharp.’ She shook Holly’s hand and the girl floated out of the shop with a smile on her face that stretched from ear to ear.