The dress was a fine wool in a soft blue-grey colour and when Amber slipped it on, apart from it being a little long, it fitted as if it had been made for her. There was a detachable cotton collar and cuffs and a very full skirt and Amber felt very grand in it.

‘Perfect apart from the length,’ Mrs Brewer observed when she came back. ‘Will you be able to shorten it yourself or should I get Mrs Temple’s seamstress to do it?’

‘Oh, I can do it,’ Amber quickly assured her.

‘Good, there’s another identical one here and of course you’ll need the petticoats to go beneath it and some new boots and a cloak.’ By the time Mrs Brewer had finished there was a pile of clothes and Amber wondered how she was going to carry them all.

‘You can leave them here and I’ll have them packed for you ready for Saturday,’ Mrs Brewer offered. ‘Just take the two gowns that need shortening.’

And so soon after Amber set off for home feeling a lot more optimistic about her new post than she had when she’d arrived.

‘I reckon Harry an’ George are goin’ to be a bit of a handful,’ she told her mother when she got home.

Alice chuckled. ‘Show me a little lad as ain’t. Why, I can remember I used to threaten our Amos an’ Reuben wi’ all sorts when they were little. They fell out like cat an’ dog an’ I’d threaten to bang their bloody heads together if they didn’t pack it in, yet look at ’em now! Thick as thieves they are. So, just stand firm, lass, an’ let the little buggers know who’s boss from the start.’ The smile slid away then and she said, ‘I were talkin’ to Mrs Preston earlier on an’ she were sayin’ Bertie ain’t too ’appy about you goin’ at all.’

‘I don’t know why,’ Amber snapped. ‘I’ve never given him any reason to believe there’s anythin’ atween us so if he wants to think there is then that’s his lookout!’

‘All right, all right, leave me head on,’ Alice soothed. ‘I were only sayin’.’ And bending her head she got on with kneading the dough on the table while Amber set about altering the hems of her new gowns.

In no time at all Friday rolled around and as Amber kissed her mother goodbye there were tears in Alice’s eyes. ‘Eeh, it feels as if you’ve only just got back from your Uncle Jeremiah’s,’ she said sadly. ‘An’ now here you are off again. Still, I suppose I should get used to it. All me chicks will fly the nest eventually.’

‘Oh Mam, I’m only goin’ till the New Year,’ Amber pointed out with a grin, and hoisting her bag up she gave her mother one more kiss and set off.