Margaret was nodding to this when someone tapped Mr Carson on the shoulder and, to her relief, took his attention. She found him rather overwhelming. The chairs were filling, though there was not a huge crowd. Some of them seemed to be rather outlandishly dressed in comparison to what she was used to. More than one of the men wore berets and she saw a small, dark-haired woman in a bright red embroidered cloak. Like Little Red Riding Hood, she thought, smiling at this odd garb. She sat back in her chair, conscious that she was very close to Philip Tallis, who had shrugged his coat over the back of his chair so that one flap of it had fallen across her leg.

‘What beautiful windows,’ she said, looking up at the curved shape with many panes in it, each reflecting the lamps.

‘Yes,’ he said. She could feel him looking at her. ‘It’s a fine building.’

‘But you don’t like to come here?’ The words were out of her mouth before she could think.

Philip Tallis shrugged. ‘I don’t feel the need,’ he began to explain, but at that moment there was a flurry of activity and a ripple of anticipation went through the room. Two men came to the front and with them, a very small woman, her hair fastened back severely from a middle parting, at the sight of whom everyone began clapping. One of the men, who was carrying a large portfolio, opened it on a nearby table and made a brief introduction. Everyone clapped again, then waited for Miss Jacintha Emily Hoyland to begin.

Margaret had expected something rather grand, a lady dressed in flowing silks at the least. Miss Hoyland, middle-aged with a thin, tired-looking face and plain clothing, seemed rather disappointing. An odd little body, Margaret thought. She looks as if she might have just removed her apron and be about to peg out her washing. Wasn’t she supposed to be an artist? Daisy was wriggling this way and that to take a good look.

When Miss Hoyland began to speak, though, a rich, well-spoken voice rolled out into the room, which, coupled with the woman’s wrung-out appearance, soon drew Margaret in with fascination. Above all, she was astonished by the confidence with which Miss Hoyland addressed a room full of strangers, most of them men.

‘Let me begin by saying to those of you not here earlier, that it has been my immense privilege to address this Guild once already this afternoon – this place which is a cauldron of ideas harnessing beauty, innovative thinking and, most importantly, the deeply felt expression of our human soul, put to admirable social use.’ She spoke briskly, as if keen to get to the main meat of her talk.