‘Maddie was always the rebel of the family,’ Serena admitted. ‘And she left the family home long before I did to go and live in Vittoria Street where Aunt Ethel joined her. It was Aunt Ethel who found a lady in Nuneaton who arranged adoptions for the babies of young women in my position through a friend of hers who was . . . let’s just say “a lady of the night”. When I met her, I told the woman that my name was Maddie, and eventually I went to stay with her until you were born. But the minute I set eyes on you I knew that I wanted to keep you, whatever the consequences. I only got to see you briefly and I told the woman I wanted to call you Ruby because of your glorious red hair – you get that from my father, he was a redhead. Anyway, I was very ill after the birth and by all accounts I almost died, and by the time I started to recover you had already gone to a new family. I was utterly heartbroken and begged Mrs Bradley, the woman I had been staying with, to tell me where you were.

‘From then on, I kept track of you from afar. Sometimes I would come and stand outside the bakery where you lived and watch you through the window. At other times Maddie or Mrs Petty would go and let me know that you were all right. And every single day since, I have had to live with the guilt. There can be no blame attached to your father,’ she added as she gazed at Oscar adoringly. ‘He didn’t even know of your existence until you disappeared, and then I was so beside myself with worry and regret that I had to tell him . . . I’m so very sorry, my darling girl. Can you ever forgive me?’

Ruby could only stare as she tried to take it all in. ‘But if Mr Pembroke didn’t know about me then why would Miranda have me locked away?’ she managed to ask when she found her voice.

‘She found my diary and when she read about my affair with her father, she told her mother. They must have concocted the plan to get you out of the way between them. She even stole some diamonds from Hermione’s to make it look as if you had run away with them, but none of us believed for a single moment that you would do that. I just thank God that George found you when he did or goodness knows how long you might have been locked away in that dreadful place. And if you wish to press charges against Miranda and Mrs Pembroke, we won’t hesitate to involve the police.’