Esther felt she could confide in her. ‘I – er – I’m looking for some material suitable for a wedding gown.’ As she saw the woman’s eyebrows rise Esther added hastily, ‘Oh, not for me! It’s for a friend of mine who’s getting married and I thought – well – I’d like to try and make her a wedding dress.’

The woman’s smile broadened. ‘Then I know just the person to help you.’ She turned and led the way back towards the counter and Esther followed.

‘Miss Davenport, would you be kind enough to assist Mrs Hilton with the choosing of a fabric suitable for a wedding gown?’

‘Certainly, madam.’

The woman turned back to Esther and made her farewells. ‘Miss Davenport will look after you. She is a fine dressmaker herself – ’ she leaned towards Esther with a conspiratorial air – she’ll give you a few tips, my dear.’

Esther smiled. ‘Thank you. You’ve been very kind.’

‘A pleasure, my dear. A pleasure. I’m so glad we met.’

Esther watched her go as the doorbell clanged behind her. How friendly she had been, and yet Esther was sure that the woman whose name she still did not know – must have witnessed several of Martha Willoughby’s sarcastic remarks towards Esther in the past.

‘If you’d like to come this way, madam, perhaps I can be of assistance.’

‘Of assistance’ Miss Davenport certainly was and when Esther finally left the shop, she couldn’t think when she had last enjoyed herself so much.

Her arms were full of material and lace trimmings, and her head was bursting with advice and suggestions.

‘Do come back and see me again, Mrs Hilton, if you have any problems,’ Miss Davenport insisted as she held open the door for Esther.

When her work was finished that evening and Kate safely in bed, Esther spread out the creamy silk material on her parlour table. She wrinkled her brow thoughtfully. Now, she thought, Enid’s slightly shorter than me, but her size and shape are much the same as mine. So I reckon if I make it to fit myself, I shan’t go far wrong.

The most anxious moment was actually putting the scissors into the lovely fabric, but once she had cut out the pieces and begun to pin and tack them together, Esther’s confidence grew.

Two weeks before the wedding, the dress was almost finished. Esther chewed her thumb thoughtfully as she stood looking down at the gown which she had spread out on the narrow bed in the little room beyond the nursery that so long ago had been her bedroom when Sam Brumby had been ill.

She heard voices from downstairs and carefully shutting the door, Esther went down to find Ma Harris and Enid sitting in the kitchen talking to Kate. Esther jumped visibly at seeing them there, thinking for a moment they had found out about her making the dress.