As promised, Cook had introduced Ruby to the rest of the staff after dinner but there were so many of them that Ruby had forgotten half of their names already and now as she lay in bed watching the shadows dance on the ceiling, tears started to roll down her cheeks. I wonder what Maddie said when she knew I was gone? Did she care? Once again, she wondered if it was possible that the woman was her birth mother. Perhaps she had only imagined the similarities between them because her dearest wish was to know who her real mother was? Because if she was, wouldn’t she have told her? And surely, she wouldn’t have wanted her to steal for her. It was all so confusing and Ruby half wished that her mam had never told her that she’d been adopted. Already she was finding it hard to remember every line on her beloved face, which made her feel worse because she had been the only one who had ever shown her true love and without her Ruby felt bereft. But somehow, she knew she was going to have to find the strength to go on and build some sort of life for herself. When she finally slept her cheeks were still wet with tears and her dreams were troubled.

*

‘Wakey, wakey, rise and shine.’

Betty’s cheerful voice brought Ruby starting awake early the next morning and she quickly sat up in bed feeling disorientated as she looked around at the unfamiliar room.

‘Come on, bab, it’s time for a cuppa before we start work.’ Betty was getting dressed and she flashed her a bright smile, wondering how long the poor girl would last with Miss Miranda to contend with. Ruby was so inoffensive and naive and everyone who had felt Miranda’s wrath knew how difficult she could be. Ruby, meanwhile, was dragging herself out of bed and snatching up her clothes, which she had folded neatly over the back of the chair the night before.

‘See you downstairs.’ Betty hurried out of the room, leaving Ruby to have a hasty wash and tug a brush through her unruly curls.

Minutes later she arrived in the kitchen to find a cheery fire blazing and Cook, Betty and Nancy, the little kitchen maid, sitting at the table with steaming mugs in front of them.

‘Help yourself.’ Cook pushed a mug towards Ruby and nodded at a sturdy brown teapot in the middle of the table.

Ruby quietly did as she was told before joining them. ‘So what’s the name of the family who live here?’ she asked hesitantly after a time as her curiosity got the better of her.