Ruby almost felt as if she was in the presence of royalty. ‘Better thanks, missus. And thank you for lettin’ me stay last night an’ all. I was goin’ to be on me way earlier on but Mrs Petty said you wanted to see me afore I went.’

‘On your way?’ Mrs Bamber looked horrified. ‘And on your way where, may I ask?’

Ruby opened her mouth to answer but then clamped it shut again. What answer could she give? She had no idea where she might be going.

‘Hm, I thought as much.’ Mrs Bamber smoothed the skirts of her gown. ‘I think the best thing you could do is stay here for a while. At least until you decide what you want to do.’

‘But I couldn’t do that without earning me keep,’ Ruby objected in a wobbly voice.

‘But you would be earning your keep if you kept me company,’ Mrs Bamber informed her. ‘I can get quite lonely on my own. Petty is always so busy and Nell sleeps for most of the day because she works in the evenings so it would be nice to have someone to go out with.’

‘Out where?’ Ruby frowned.

Mrs Bamber shrugged her slim shoulders as she glanced towards the window through which she could see the snow still steadily falling. ‘Well, there’s shopping we could do together for a start. And in the spring, we could go for carriage rides and walks in the park. And of course, Christmas is only around the corner, so I shall need someone to help me carry all the bags when I do my Christmas shopping. There’s lots of things we could do together. But first, I think we’d need to get you some new clothes. I couldn’t help but notice that those you are wearing only fit where they touch.’

Ruby’s cheeks flamed as her hand dropped to her faded, patched skirt. For as long as she could remember her mother had had to buy all their clothes from the rag stall in the market because her father had always insisted that new clothes were a waste of money. It had never bothered her before. It was a case of what she had never had she never missed, but now in this beautiful house she suddenly felt very poor and very shabby indeed.

‘We could go shopping today,’ Mrs Bamber suggested with a radiant smile. ‘We can get you a nice warm coat and some boots more suitable for the weather for a start off.’

‘I . . . er, I ain’t got no money fer new clothes,’ Ruby mumbled, deeply embarrassed.

‘You don’t need money, I shall be paying,’ Mrs Bamber told her with a smile.

Feeling vaguely uncomfortable, Ruby nodded, although it didn’t feel right that this stranger should be showing her so much concern. But then she could hardly argue. What alternative did she have but to accept the kindness?