Olivia melted into the warmth and safety of his embrace. She wished fervently that she could move in with Ted and his father so that she might never have to go home again, but she knew that wasn’t an option, not with her mother being as ill as she was. Sighing heavily, she decided to make the most of the time with Ted, before having to return to her father who would undoubtedly be full of apologies, but also resolute that she had caused him to lose his temper and put measures in place to prevent her from ever leaving the house again.

Chapter One

Spring 1923

Tears streamed down Olivia’s cheeks as she raced to warn Ted of her father’s imminent arrival. He had been understandably furious when he had heard the news, and even though he had assured her he was only going to talk to Ted, she had heard the gravel flying up as the car tyres spun down the drive.

She chastised herself inwardly. How could she have been so careless? In her naivety she had drawn a large love heart in her diary with her and Ted’s names inside. Not only that, but she had written her darkest secrets within the pages, and it was one of those secrets in particular which had caused her father to throw the diary across the room before confronting her. Her defence had been to accuse him of reading her diary without her permission, although even she realised this was a lame excuse given the gravity of the situation.

Unable to run any further, she stopped at the corner of Colebrooke Road. Fighting for breath, she winced as the sharp pain of a stitch formed in her side. She gripped hold of the brick wall bordering someone’s garden as everything started to spin. Stumbling, she tried to regain her balance, but it was no use and she sank to her knees. Trying to focus on her route, she began to crawl forward in a desperate bid to complete her journey, but she was exhausted from having run the best part of a mile and her body had run out of strength. Her attempt to try to stop her father had proved futile, although how she had expected to catch up with him when he was in the Daimler, she had no idea. Another thought occurred to her. Her father hadn’t bothered calling for Robin, their chauffeur, to drive him, but had taken the wheel himself. For a moment she wondered why he had done so, but she already knew the answer. Her father wouldn’t want any of his staff to know his business.