With Hermione and Mrs B beside her, Serena sat in her smart new pale-lilac costume and matching hat, sniffing away happy tears and feeling as if she might burst with pride as she watched her daughter float down the aisle. There had been times since Ruby’s birth when she had despaired of ever being able to claim her as her own, but at last everything had come right and now she not only had a beautiful daughter but she was married to the love of her life.

In the row behind her was Mrs Petty, looking rather uncomfortable in all her new finery, and Nell – who had also turned over a new leaf and was now working in a large emporium – was there too with the young man she was walking out with, all of them smiling broadly.

It was a wedding that would be spoken about for many years and everyone there agreed that Ruby made a truly radiant bride.

Following the service, Ruby and Bill left the church in a shower of rice and rose petals and Frank drove them to the hotel where Oscar had arranged a wedding breakfast fit for a king and queen.

‘Are you quite sure you will be happy living back in Nuneaton?’ Oscar asked that evening as he snatched a few precious moments alone with his daughter just before she and Bill left for a few days’ honeymoon in Southend. Oscar had wanted them to go abroad, as his treat, but Ruby was eager to move into the little rooms above the shop that they had been decorating and furnishing over the last few weeks in their spare time.

‘The man that brought me up has been dead for some months now, if that’s what you’re worrying about,’ she pointed out. Word had reached them that he had died of a heart attack the summer before, sadly just days after old Mr Pembroke, her grandfather, had died of the same complaint. ‘And yes, I’ll be happy there. But don’t worry, you’ll not be getting rid of me that easily. I shall be on the train regularly visiting you and Mother, and Hermione. And of course, you can visit us too. I know we’ll be glad of your advice once we get the shop up and running.’

‘I doubt that,’ he said with a wry grin. ‘I think you and Bill are going to make a real success of this business.’

Bill joined them at that moment with Serena close behind him. ‘Frank is waiting to take us to the train station, love.’

They tripped outside with the guests following closely and smiled to see the tin cans and ribbons that had been tied to the back of the carriage.

‘Be sure to send us a postcard,’ Dilys told her as she stepped forward with little Mathilda in her arms to give her a kiss.

‘And I shall want one too,’ Maddie butted in.