‘Oh, Anne,’ Peggy breathed in delight. ‘It is as pretty as a picture.’

‘You wait until you’ve seen inside,’ she giggled. ‘You’ll hardly recognise it.’

Peggy could only vaguely remember two rather shabby reception rooms, an old-fashioned kitchen and a poky bathroom downstairs, with four big bedrooms above them. When Anne and Martin had first moved in it had been empty for some time, so they’d done what they could to refresh it before Anne had had to evacuate to Somerset with Rose, and Martin moved into officers’ quarters at the aerodrome.

Rose scrambled out as Peggy helped Cordelia and, with Emily on her hip, took Daisy’s hand and followed Anne and Rose through the porch and into the narrow hallway which smelled of new paint.

Anne was grinning like a Cheshire cat as she took charge of the children. ‘Have a wander round and tell me what you think while I put the kettle on for a cuppa, and give the girls some squash.’

Peggy could see that the hall floor had been sanded and waxed, and there was fresh sprigged paper on the walls above the newly painted white panelling. It looked much lighter than she remembered, and as she and Cordelia went through into the sitting room, she could see a similar transformation. The floors were again sanded and waxed, and the walls had been painted a pale yellow that made it feel as if the sun was always shining. There was a lovely original fireplace surrounded by beautiful tiles, and Anne had cleverly picked out the same colours in the curtains, cushions and floor rugs. It all looked lovely and cosy and she could just imagine the little family sitting around that hearth in the winter.

The room on the other side of the hall was painted white, and at its centre was a large dining table with bulbous legs and a shine you could see your face in. The eight chairs were upholstered in a rich, deep red which matched the velvet curtains that hung right to the floor and were tied back with tasselled ropes of thick gold cord. There was another original fireplace in here too, but for now Anne had filled it with an arrangement of flowers in a pretty vase.

Peggy admired it all, but thought that so much dark wood and deep red made the room rather sombre, but she supposed they would only use it in the evenings when it would actually look very luxurious and intimate – a far cry from her rather battered dining room which had become a dumping ground for unwanted furniture.

‘This reminds me of my old house,’ said Cordelia. ‘I must dig out my silver candlesticks. They’d look lovely on that table with my rose bowl.’

‘You’ve given Anne enough,’ said Peggy softly. ‘That diamond and emerald brooch was worth a fortune.’

‘That was her wedding present,’ she replied firmly. ‘The candlesticks and rose bowl will be a house-warming gift to both of them, and I’ll discuss it no further.’