‘In that case be ready to leave for the shop with me at seven thirty sharp in the morning. Mrs Carter will show you to your room and for the time you are here you will eat with me in here.’

‘But I don’t mind eatin’ wi’ Mrs Carter an’ Biddy in the kitchen.’

He shook his head. ‘No, you are my niece and it wouldn’t be seemly, so if you want breakfast before we leave in the morning be in here for seven o’clock. Goodnight, Amber.’

She watched him leave the room closing the door gently behind him and let out a breath of relief. All she had to do was get through the next six to seven months and then hopefully she would be able to put this all behind her. It couldn’t come quickly enough.

*

Within a week she was actually enjoying working in the shop thanks to Archie Moorcroft who almost fell over himself trying to assist her in any way he could. He was a lovely young man and Amber enjoyed his company. It was soon clear that he was her uncle’s right-hand man and knew almost as much about running the shop as her uncle did. Archie had happily told her that he lived with his widowed mother and two young sisters in Scarborough but whenever he asked her anything about her own personal life, she changed the subject feeling that the least he knew about her past the better. Her only concern with Archie, though, was that she had a horrible feeling he might be forming romantic feelings for her and she didn’t want that. She didn’t want any man now and doubted that she ever would again after the way Barnaby Greenwood had treated her. In any case, in a few months’ time she would be gone and it would be highly doubtful she would ever see Archie again. She knew that her uncle had informed him that she was a widow but she wasn’t even sure if Archie was aware she was carrying a child as yet and she felt it was best left that way.

It had also quickly become clear to her that Mrs Carter had fond feelings for her employer. Uncle Jeremiah appeared to be completely oblivious to it and Amber thought it was a shame because she was sure they could have made each other happy. Even so, she was just grateful to her uncle for allowing her to stay and so she kept her thoughts to herself.

Two weeks after she had started working at the shop, however, her stomach sank when Archie asked her one Saturday, ‘I were wonderin’ if you’d like to come to my house for tea to meet me mam an’ me little sisters tomorrow?’