Amber sighed, a little tired of all the questions. ‘Actually, I was workin’ at the harbour wi’ the Scottish herrin’ girls before that. But the job came to an end when they moved on so I took this one. It’s only till we get back to Whitby, though. The boys will be goin’ off to boarding school then, an’ before you ask – no, I ain’t decided what I’ll do next.’

‘Oh!’ Daisy looked disappointed. She’d hoped that she’d see more of Amber in the future when the boys visited their grandparents but it didn’t look like that would happen.

‘Well, you could allus get a job ’ere,’ she suggested but Amber shook her head.

‘I suppose I could but to be honest I’ve missed me home. I reckon London is a bit busy for me. Still, I’m sure somethin’ will turn up.’

Daisy nodded in agreement and they hurried on their way, keen to get back to the house before darkness set in.

*

The next weeks passed in a blur. The boys kept Amber busy and she was pleased to be included in the sightseeing trips that their parents and grandparents took them on. She saw Buckingham Palace and the Houses of Parliament and many famous landmarks that she had only ever heard about. Then suddenly Christmas was almost upon them and her feeling of homesickness intensified. She had never been away from her family for the Christmas celebrations, but then, she thought, she was earning good money and it was only for the one year, after all. She also thought of her baby and wondered what sort of first Christmas she would have, but the thought was so painful that she tried to push it away.

The week before Christmas a huge Christmas tree was delivered to the house. It was so tall that it almost reached the high ceiling of the drawing room where it was placed in a large barrel of earth, and Amber and the boys spent a happy afternoon decorating it with their grandmother’s beautiful glass baubles and hundreds of tiny candles.

‘You’ve done a lovely job of that,’ Mrs Temple praised when she came down to dinner, standing back to admire it. ‘But would you get the boys to change now please, Amber? They’ll be dining with the family this evening.’

Amber didn’t mind at all. When the boys dined with their family, she had her meals with the staff in the kitchen and she got on well with them. In fact, it was soon more than obvious that Thomas, one of the young grooms, was smitten with her.

‘You lucky devil,’ Daisy sighed enviously. ‘I wish it were me he were sweet on. Don’t you like ’im?’

‘He’s very nice,’ Amber told her cagily. ‘I just don’t want a boyfriend.’