As it happened, Becky proved to be like a ray of sunshine on a dark day and by the end of the afternoon Amber had taken to her and was surprised to see just how good she was with the children. She did everything Amber asked her to do with good grace and a smile on her face and Amber noted that she was better at changing their bindings than she was. She was a lot stronger than she looked too.

‘I’ve always helped me mam do it,’ Becky explained and as she began to chatter on about her younger siblings Amber could see that she had come from a very close-knit family. ‘It were hard to lose me dad an’ me uncle though.’ Her face became solemn and Amber could feel her pain.

‘I know, I lost my dad and two of my brothers too.’

The door opened at that point and Barnaby appeared so the conversation stopped and Becky hastily stood up and bobbed her knee.

‘Afternoon, Mr Greenwood, or is it evenin’ yet?’

He smiled, clearly far more at ease with Becky than he was with Amber. ‘It’s almost evening,’ he replied. ‘And I thought I’d just pop up to see how you’ve done on your first day before I go in to dinner.’ He glanced over at Amber and she nodded.

‘She’s been a very good help, actually, and she’s a natural with the children.’

‘Good, good.’

Although David was asleep, as usual, Charlotte was whining at the sight of him and laughing now he swung her into his arms making her giggle. ‘And how have you behaved today, you little monkey?’

She cooed with delight as she buried her chubby little hands in his hair and it was clear to see how much they loved each other. In fact, Amber thought as a little pang of jealousy fired through her, she seemed to be far closer to her father than she was to her. But she supposed that was to be expected. He had been in her life since the day she had been born whereas she herself was merely a newcomer.

Once he had gone, Becky helped Amber to bathe both the infants and finally, they were both fast asleep in their cribs and Amber could relax a little.

‘What do you usually do of an evenin’?’ Becky asked.

Amber shrugged. ‘Oh, I just read usually, but why don’t you go down to the kitchen for a while and make the most of it while it’s quiet?’

Becky frowned. ‘Why don’t you come down as well?’