Now, as silent tears escaped, she flipped open the catches of her suitcase and placed the mirror and hairbrush on top of her clothes and was about to turn away when she saw the small keepsake box which she had given her mother for her last birthday. Picking it up, she placed it beside the mirror and hairbrush. She closed the case and headed back towards the front door. Glancing in the direction of her father’s study, she wondered briefly whether she should tell him she was about to leave, then thought better of it. That would be playing the same game as him. She had said she was leaving, and he hadn’t tried to stop her.

Olivia opened the front door, breathed in the evening air, and closed it firmly behind her. If her father was silly enough to turn his back on her, then there was nothing that could be done about it. She would step forward into a new life, with exciting opportunities, just as her mother had wanted her to do.

A fortnight after burying her mother, Olivia headed for the town hall, which they were using to recruit volunteers. Once she got there, she joined the end of the queue which stretched along the length of the pavement. She glanced curiously around at the other women to get the measure of those who had chosen to sign up. She couldn’t help noticing that they were all considerably slimmer than she was. A small group of men further up the queue had evidently noticed the same thing, sniggering and making rude gestures in her direction. Turning her back, Olivia did her best to ignore them, but if anything it made matters worse as they now had to speak louder in order to make sure she heard their opinions.

A woman who was a few years younger than Olivia turned to see what was causing so much hilarity. She glanced at Olivia before shooting the men a look of disgust. ‘They may look old enough to join up, but they’re certainly not acting it,’ she muttered.

A faint blush tinged Olivia’s cheeks. ‘Don’t worry, I’m used to it.’

The girl shook her head. ‘Well, you shouldn’t be. My mam always taught me, if you can’t say anything nice then you should keep your mouth shut.’ Turning to face Olivia, she held out a hand so that the men might see. ‘I’m Maude Harris.’

Olivia gratefully shook the other girl’s hand. ‘Hello, Maude, I’m Olivia, Liv for short.’

Maude smiled pleasantly. ‘Hello, Liv.’ She glanced along the length of the queue. ‘What made you decide to join up?’

‘I’ve been caring for my mother until she passed away a few weeks ago, and then I decided to make myself useful and get paid whilst I’m about it. You?’