‘Jeremy Pilkington-Hughes, my arse!’ Dora snorted. ‘His name’s Jimmy Sullivan. He grew up near me an’ a right little waster he turned out to be. He preys on women, older ones usually. He bleeds ’em of all their money then dumps ’em. Ain’t never done a day’s work in his whole life, he ain’t. I wanted to warn Ivy when I first saw her with him but I thought perhaps he’d turned over a new leaf. But then when I saw him with her ladyship today it gave me a rare old gliff, I don’t mind tellin’ you.’

‘Oh no, poor Ivy,’ Holly gasped. ‘But what do we do now? This is going to break her heart.’

Dora shrugged. ‘That’s entirely up to you, luvvie. I just thought as you should know.’ She accepted a cup of tea then before heading for home, leaving Holly in shock. Her head was in a whirl as she thought of the mess poor Ivy had inadvertently landed herself in, but would she appreciate being told the truth about the man she loved? And she did love him; adored him, in fact, Holly was in no doubt about that.

Sleep evaded her that night as she tossed and turned trying to decide what she should do, and then it came to her. Her mother was coming to visit her shortly, she would ask her advice. Until then she would hold her tongue.

It was the middle of December and as Holly glanced around the flat she smiled with satisfaction. Her mother would be arriving shortly so she had polished every stick of furniture until she could see her face in it and a delicious roast dinner was cooking in the oven, making her stomach rumble with anticipation. At least this Sunday she would not be sitting on her own thinking about Richard, which she tended to do far too often. It felt as if he’d been away forever, and though they were still writing to each other every week, it wasn’t the same as spending time together and she missed him more than she had imagined she would.

For at least the tenth time in as many minutes, she hurried to the window to look down the street for a sign of her mother and sure enough there she was striding along with a smile on her face and laden down with bags. Christmas presents, no doubt, Holly surmised as she dashed down the stairs to open the door. And then they were in each other’s arms and Holly realised once more just how much she missed her, although she had no intention of ever living back at home again. She was enjoying her independence and her career too much now.

‘Why, everywhere looks neat as a new pin, darling,’ Emma said approvingly as she sniffed the air. It was heavy with the delicious smell of cooking and lavender polish.

‘And how is Ivy?’ she asked next. Holly had told her that she had left home to live with her fiancé prior to them getting married but she hadn’t told her about the baby. But she would have to now.