‘Yes, dear,’ Mrs Godfrey said modestly.

‘They’re lovely,’ Kate said, hardly able to take her eyes from them. Her gaze dropped to the face beneath the hat. Peggy was pretty, Kate thought, with a smooth skin and a well-shaped mouth. And she was kind, like her brother, Jonathan, but sometimes when her face fell into repose and she thought no one was watching her, she seemed, to the observant Kate, to have an air of sadness about her.

Mrs Godfrey was leaning towards Kate, smiling and nodding, ‘When you come to school in Lincoln you’ll have to come and see us and Peggy will take you shopping. There, you’d like that, wouldn’t you? You’ll love the bustle of the city. There’s always something going on. Not like here . . .’ The woman glanced over her shoulder across the flat farm fields and shivered slightly. ‘Whatever do you find to do here?’ she murmured, then added more briskly, ‘You’ll have such a good time. There’s the shops and the markets and the theatre and the pictures. Peggy will show you around, won’t you, Peg? You’ll love it, Kate, really you will.’

‘Of course you must come and see us, Kate.’ Peggy’s smile was genuine and warm. Dutifully, Kate nodded. Though she knew they meant it kindly, the talk of city life sounded a little frightening. It didn’t make her feel any happier about leaving all the things that were familiar, to go to boarding school.

Not one jot.

When all their guests had departed, Jonathan drove his mother and sister back into town to catch the evening train. As they made their farewells, Mrs Godfrey hugged Kate to her, enfolding her in a waft of flowery perfume.

‘Now, don’t forget. When you come to school in September, your Aunty Peg will come to the school and fetch you to our house for tea one Sunday.’

‘Thank you,’ Kate said politely, and was rewarded by one of her mother’s brilliant smiles. ‘Thank you very much.’

‘Isn’t Aunty Peggy married, Mam?’ Kate asked as they stood at the gate waving at the trap disappearing along the lane.

‘No.’

‘She’s ever so nice, isn’t she?’

‘Well, of course, she would be.’ Esther smiled, putting her arm about Kate’s shoulders as they went back towards the farmhouse. ‘She’s ya dad’s sister.’

Kate giggled inwardly. In her mother’s eyes, any relative of Jonathan’s couldn’t help being nice.

As they went into the scullery, they both heard Lilian’s wailing.

‘Oh, there she goes!’ Esther sighed. ‘And there’s all the pots to wash . . .’

‘I’ll do them, Mam. You go and see to her.’

‘You’re a good girl, Katie, I dun’t know what I’d ’ave done without you today. I’ll just feed her and then I’ll give you a hand.’