They worked steadily all morning and Ruby had to admit that until they’d got started she hadn’t fully appreciated just how dirty the flat was, especially the kitchen and bathroom. It had clearly all been too much for the old lady long before her fall. When she took the curtains down to wash them and clean the windows they fell into tatters, the moths clearly having had a good meal or two, and the floorboards were thick with grime where the couple of rugs that had been on the floor hadn’t covered them. By the time Clarissa arrived with a champagne lunch – of all things – they were both covered in dirt and hot and tired, and had barely made inroads into all that needed to be done, but once they’d eaten and drunk and Clarissa had sailed off again, they got their second wind.

The builder arrived just after six o’clock that evening and Ruby was glad that Edward was around in the background while she dealt with Mr McArthur. He seemed a nice enough man but she rather suspected he might have added an extra few pounds here and there on his estimate if Edward hadn’t asked the occasional pertinent question and made it clear she wasn’t a soft touch. Which she certainly wasn’t, she told herself silently, but perhaps a little naive at dealing with builders, it must be said.

Mr McArthur told her he and his two sons could start work the following day, which suggested they were among the many struggling in the present declining economic market, and once Edward had got him to write down his quotation – not an estimate, Edward had insisted pleasantly, which legally didn’t tie him to the amount stated – and sign it, off he trotted.

‘You’ve accomplished a lot in one day.’ Edward smiled at her as she closed the door on the builder. ‘How about I pop you home so you can change and we’ll go out for a meal somewhere?’

‘Mabel said she’d keep something hot for me and to be honest all I want to do is to eat and fall into bed. Do you mind?’

‘Of course not.’ The skin round the grey eyes crinkled as he smiled. ‘Your wish is my command. You know that.’