‘It’s a lovely shop, Miss Morgan,’ Polly said earnestly. ‘It’s been a draper’s ever since I can remember, an’ it’s in a row like this one. There’s a watchmaker’s next door an’ a wool shop the other side if I remember right. You ought to go an’ have a look.’

‘I will, Polly. Thank you.’ If the shop had been run as a draper’s, hopefully it wouldn’t need much in the way of alterations to bring it in line with what she had in mind, but she would have to see. Her first appointment that morning was with a lady coming in for a fitting and the evening dress was ready for the client to try on, so deciding there was time to quickly pop to Ridley Place before eleven o’clock, Ruby left the shop.

The premises were slightly larger than the present shop, being in a terraced row of three-storey shops with what looked like an attic room under the eaves. After she had ventured in and explained why she had come, the present owner – a dapper little man in his sixties – escorted her round the shop and the living accommodation above. The only modifications Ruby felt were needed on the ground floor were the addition of a cloakroom and indoor toilet, thereby making the privy at the end of the yard obsolete, and painting and decorating throughout. The flat, although neat and clean, had no modern conveniences, an outside tap being the only source of water for the premises. As she intended to employ a manageress to live above the shop, the cost of converting the smaller of the two bedrooms on the second floor into a bathroom and providing running water for the kitchen would have to be taken into account. The attic room was presently being used for storage and was packed so full she couldn’t see much. Nevertheless, it seemed promising and she told the owner she would be in touch with the estate agent handling the sale.

True to her word, that evening she visited the agency and found out more details with a view to setting the wheels in motion, and the following morning contacted the owner of the shop to ask permission for her builder to come and view the premises so he could give her a price for the work she would want carried out.

When she had first begun considering a second establishment some weeks before, she had thought it sensible to pay a visit to the building society to enquire how they would view her buying a further property. The manager, who had been watching the success of the first shop closely, had agreed that – subject to certain guidelines – he saw no reason not to lend her the money for a second venture.