‘Here you go, Amber.’ Without being asked, Jimmy began to load a generous portion of meat and potato pie onto her plate along with a selection of vegetables and she managed a wavering smile. Usually she was ravenously hungry by the time she finished work but tonight the food seemed to stick in her throat and she had to keep taking sips of water to wash it down.

The higher-up servants – the mistress’s lady’s maid, the butler, the parlourmaids and the housekeeper – had eaten their meal some time ago after the family had been served theirs. Now the lowly staff were the last to eat and whereas Amber usually enjoyed their banter, tonight she just longed for the privacy of the little room she shared with her good friend Nancy, the scullery maid, up in the attic in the servants’ quarters.

There was a large bread and butter pudding and a jug of creamy yellow custard to follow the main meal but Amber excused herself when it was served and without giving anyone time to ask any questions, she scuttled away up the steep wooden staircase, leaving Jimmy with a disappointed frown on his face.

‘I wonder what’s wrong with her?’ the cook said thoughtfully when Amber had gone. ‘It ain’t like her to let good food go to waste.’ She looked pointedly at Nancy but the girl merely shrugged and turned her attention to the food in front of her.

It was part of Nancy’s job to help the kitchen maid tackle the enormous pile of dirty dishes after each meal, and it was going on for nine o’clock that evening before they were all washed and dried and put away in their rightful places. Only then did Nancy manage to get away to join Amber upstairs.

When Nancy entered their room, Amber was brushing her hair. Although she couldn’t be termed as classically beautiful – she was rather tall for a girl and although she was seventeen, her figure was boyish – but her deep tawny-coloured eyes and her glorious mass of rich strawberry-blonde curls more than made up for that. It hung down her back like a glorious silk cloak and reminded Nancy of the setting sun. Nancy’s hair was, as her mother termed it, as straight as pump water and a mousy colour, and she was slim to the point of being skinny. Her eyes were a dull grey and although she had always envied Amber her looks, it didn’t stop her caring for her.

‘So you’ve had the royal summons again, ’ave yer?’ Nancy said disapprovingly as she quickly closed the bedroom door behind her. Outside, the gardens were slowly coming back to life after a long cold winter but it was still cold up in the attics.

Amber nodded miserably.

‘And are you goin’ to tell ’im tonight?’