‘I look forward to seeing you in residence on my return. Here are the terms of your employment and your rate of pay,’ Veronica added, as she slipped a buff envelope into Rosie’s hands. ‘Any problems, phone me on my direct line – I’ve written it down on the envelope.’

Shaking her mistress by the hand, Rosie said earnestly, ‘Thank you, ma’am, I can never thank you enough for this wonderful opportunity.’

‘Rose, dear,’ Lady Veronica smiled. ‘I think the shoe is on the other foot; it is I who can never thank you enough.’

50. A Deal is Struck

Timid Rosie, the little mouse of a woman who had been so ill and had shrunk in fear and shame on her arrival at Mary Vale, was hugely missed by all when she left for Windermere, this time on the train, which she could now afford. Sister Theresa and Ada (along with baby Catherine, cosily sleeping in her big old-fashioned pram) were there to wave her off, along with Mrs Larkin, Ronnie and Sally.

Before she talked to her children about her new plans, Rosie had made sure she and Mrs Larkin had a quiet word in private.

‘I can only do this if I have your backing and support,’ Rosie started. ‘Is it wrong of me to leave my children?’

Mrs Larkin was as ever pragmatic. ‘Well, sweetheart,’ she said, as she lit up a cigarette and poured tea from the big brown pot that was always brewing on the ancient Aga in her cluttered but comfortable kitchen, ‘you’re caught between a rock and a hard place, I’d say.’

Rosie’s brow crinkled. ‘What do you mean?’

‘Well, you can’t stay here on the farm – there’s no room for a start, and what would you do? Feed the sheep, milk the cows?’

Rosie shuddered at the thought. ‘I’d be hopeless,’ she confessed.

‘But that’s not the point, really, is it?’ Mrs Larkin said realistically. ‘In effect it would be two families living together, not Sally and Ronnie living with me.’ She left the sentence hanging before she added, ‘There would inevitably be arguments, your children playing you off against me, or the other way around. It’s predictable, of course, but it would get very tedious.’

Rosa nodded in agreement with her sentiments. ‘You have created a safe place for my kiddies – they’re happier here than they were at Mary Vale, and, though they go on about Finsbury Park, to tell the truth it was a slum and now it’s just a bomb-site. Ronnie and Sally have flourished with you and your lovely family, and amazingly they now love going to school. I would hate to take them away from all of this,’ she finished.