Waltzing from the room, she said nonchalantly over her shoulder, ‘Oh, by the way, I’ve some news for you. Mother has seen fit to disown us. Personally, I couldn’t give a toss!’

Bernadette was once more Kerry’s dresser. In the few weeks since the run-in with their mother, everything had calmed down. Molly had kept a very low profile, and Briony had made a point of sending a cab to the house to pick Rosalee up for her visits to her sisters. Molly had been all for stopping her going, but had thought better of it. Rosalee came back flushed, excited, and full to the brim with dainties. Eileen could only be visited by mutual consent. If Briony was going, Molly kept away and vice versa. Bernadette had not been near or by her door which galled her, as it seemed three of her daughters had now formed some kind of unholy alliance, Briony and Bernadette both protecting Kerry.

In fact, it seemed to Bernadette that the three of them were getting on better than ever before. Briony was even talking about having Eileen home for a visit. Kerry didn’t look pregnant to outsiders, so the secret was still closed. It would come out eventually, but they had an unspoken agreement that until it did, they would put it out of their minds. Kerry had a glow to her skin that gave her looks an added lustre. In fact, she had never been healthier, had never enjoyed her singing so much. She lost herself in the words of the songs, and gave them an added meaning.

Pieter Delarge, a small dark-headed man with a beaked nose, had been in the club frequently of late, and now, on a cold October evening, he sat opposite Briony in her office, drinking coffee laced with vodka and chattering amicably.

‘Come on, Pieter, what are you really here for? I know it’s not to talk about the weather or your health.’

Briony smiled to take the edge off her words.

Pieter shrugged expansively.

‘I’ve come to ask you about your sister Kerry. I know through the grapevine that she’s had an offer from Templar Records.’

He blew out his lips dismissively as he said it. ‘I’m here because I can make you a better offer. A much better offer.’

‘And what might that be?’

‘I want to sign her for Campion Records. They’re new, but they’re going to be big. We want her to do four recordings over the next three months. We shall promote her well, her name will be everywhere. Even the music sheets would carry a picture of her, as well as her name in large letters. We want our own Billie, our own Ella. In short, we want a white singer for this new music. We want her to be the first big performer of this new age. We also want to pay her a great deal of money.’