“She was a nun, Lou, so I doubt it. Thank you. No cream for me. I try to stick to lemon these days.”

Louise poured the tea. “As you know, my sister Vicky is expecting her fifth, while Alice is already having her third, and she’s been married less than four years. It seems to be raining babies. Do help yourself to cake. Signor Francatelli makes the most fabulous coffee and walnut log. Good enough to tempt even me to sample a crumb or two.”

“No, thank you, I’m not hungry.”

“That has never stopped you before.”

“The press monitor my figure even more strictly than Mama. It has rather curtailed my appetite for cake.”

“Oh goodness, I’m so sorry. Don’t look so stricken, M. But it’s all ancient history now, isn’t it?”

“Provided I don’t put another foot wrong. Sometimes I feel like one of those poor little insects trapped between two slides under a microscope, you know?”

Louise chuckled. “I know the feeling, wriggling under intense scrutiny! Are you coping, M.? You certainly look very well, and that gown is most becoming; though if you don’t mind a little hint, less is more when it comes to lace.”

“I agree, but Mama would not countenance my wearing anything plainer to come to tea with the queen.”

“And your hair, too,” Louise persisted, “the epitome of a well-behaved coiffure with not a single wilful curl. Most impressive. I congratulate you.”

“Never mind how I look.” Margaret pushed her tea-cup to one side and pulled her chair closer. “I have something to tell you.”

Louise also pushed her cup to one side, her smile fading abruptly. “Do not say you have been foolish again? You have worked so hard to re-establish yourself, and I have so enjoyed having your company. I pray you have done nothing to deprive me of it.”

“I have been making secret forays to Lambeth.”

“Lambeth! If it is to visit the Archbishop of Canterbury at Lambeth Palace, then I fail to see how anyone could dare find fault with that.”

“You are on the right lines, but about half a mile and a world away.” Margaret reached across the table for her friend’s hand but stopped midway when Louise shrank away. “There is no need to start distancing yourself. Mama knows all about it—well, some of it. It is my reward for my exemplary behaviour; though when she agreed, I don’t think she had any notion my visits would prove so life-changing. To be honest, I didn’t either but—oh, it has been! In the last five weeks I have learned so much, experienced so much, I am a different person entirely.”

“Five weeks, and you have said nothing to me.”