Daisy scrubbed her eyes defiantly with a handkerchief and asked, ‘Will I have to dress like a bleedin’ penguin?’

‘I will have to talk to you later, young lady, about your very bad manners. Follow me.’

The Mother Superior led the way along several dark corridors. It was evident to Rose, from what she could see of the architecture, that the convent had been built in the Gothic style in the middle of the last century. She remembered reading that there had been some opposition to Oxford Anglicanism, claiming it was too ‘high’ and drifting back to the Catholic Church.

‘You will share a room,’ said the Mother Superior, opening a heavy oak door. ‘As laywomen, you will not wear the habit, but you will select from your luggage your plainest clothes. I will leave you to unpack. Sister Agnes will be your mentor. She will be with you shortly to take you on a tour of the convent and explain your duties to you.’

She retreated. Rose and Daisy looked at each other and then around the narrow room. It was furnished with two hard narrow beds. Between the beds was a table on which lay a large Bible. The latticed window let in very little light. Against one wall was a tall narrow wardrobe. ‘No fireplace,’ muttered Daisy miserably. ‘And it’s freezing.’

‘We may as well sort out our clothes and pick out the warmest things we have,’ said Rose. She looked gloomily at the trunks piled one on top of the other and the hatboxes lying on the floor.

The door opened and a nun stood surveying them. She was dressed in traditional robes. She had a long white face, pale eyes under heavy lids and her thin-lipped mouth was shadowed by a moustache.

‘You have far too many clothes. I am Sister Agnes. I will fetch Sister Martha to help you.’

When she had closed the door behind her, Rose said urgently, ‘We must hurry. They may frown on furs, so we must take out two fur coats and hide them under our bedding. We will need them at night or we will freeze.’

Rose pulled out a sable coat and hid it under the thin blankets on one of the beds and Daisy put her precious squirrel coat under the blankets on the other one.

They had just finished when Sister Martha came in. She was small, plump and cheerful. She shook hands with both of them and then helped them pack away the fine dresses, blouses and hats that she considered unsuitable.

When they were finished at last, Sister Martha said, ‘We’ll drag the trunks outside and the oddman will take them down to the storage room in the cellar. We must hurry. We are to go along to dinner. You have missed Vespers but allowances must be made on your first day.’ She looked uneasily at them. ‘Do you wish me to retire so that you may change into something more suitable?’

‘We will wear what we have on,’ said Rose firmly. ‘We are not yet accustomed to the cold of this place.’