Briony walked into her club The Windjammer at two-thirty in the afternoon. She smiled at the people milling around, putting the finishing touches to the place. As she passed the hat check girl she was amazed to see her bob a small curtsy. It made Briony smile widely. She walked into the club itself and eyed the room, taking in everything from the fresh flowers to the newly laid carpets. Briony was pleased. In the dimness she saw Kerry and Bernie on the small stage, talking to the piano player and saxophonist. She saw the excitement on her sisters’ faces as they turned at the sound of her clattering heels on the wooden dance floor.

‘Hello, Bri. I’m just going over the final numbers one more time. Want to hear them?’ Kerry called.

Briony nodded and took a seat at one of the tables at the edge of the dance floor. She glanced around her as Kerry sorted through her music and was once more assailed with a feeling of happiness. She was more than satisfied with the place. The decor was brilliant: the walls painted a very pale gold and adorned with photographs, head and shoulders shots of the most beautiful women of the day. The largest was of Anna Pavlova, her eyes staring out across the room. Briony had also had musical scores framed and hung on the walls. The tables all had white cloths of pristine Irish linen and the glasses that sparkled behind the long carved wood bar were all good quality crystal.

It had cost a small fortune, but one of Briony’s main beliefs was that you got what you paid for. Well, this was a jazz club, one of the first in London, and she had planned it on a grand scale.

She had hired a quartet of black American musicians who were thrilled to work at the new club, and even more thrilled with their wages. She dragged her eyes back towards the stage as she saw Kerry walk forward. She noticed the eyes of the pianist, Evander Dorsey, watching her closely. Their whites seemed to glow with the look and she smiled to herself. If he liked Kerry he would play even better. Everything had its good side for Briony. The fact he was black and looking at her sister did not shock her as it would have done others. She took everyone at face value. Always had and always would.

Kerry cleared her throat, and as the first few bars of the music struck up, Bernie slid into a seat beside Briony.