I didn’t have the chance to tell either of the two friends that I was already well and truly spoken for, and that I would be moving to Abu Dhabi with the love of my life, because Dolly was beckoning me over to admire the tree and the family decorations adorning it.

All of the decorations throughout the hall were every bit as outstanding as the impressive building and Catherine was kind enough to let us see it all, even the family rooms. The sitting room was my favourite with its squishy sofas, huge open fire and piles of magazines. The whole place was like a National Trust or English Heritage property, but one that was very much lived in. There were layers upon layers of Connelly family life and I loved it.

‘Isn’t it beautiful?’ said Dolly, who had been in awe of everything.

‘It is,’ I agreed yet again to what had fast become her stock response to every new door that opened.

‘It’s like a fairy tale,’ she told Catherine, who was delighted to have the opportunity to share her home.

‘We’re very lucky to have it,’ Catherine told her, ‘and it’s such a pleasure to have found ways to let everyone else enjoy it.’

The Winter Wonderland wasn’t the only event that happened here. There were other things going on throughout the year and Anna and Jamie ran a charity for bereaved under eighteens from the converted stable block. It didn’t seem to matter where I turned in this part of the Fens, there were entrepreneurial folk reviving both the town and the countryside.

A gong sounded somewhere and Catherine cocked her head to listen.

‘That’ll be Dorothy,’ she told us. ‘It must be time for tea.’

Back in the morning room the table in front of the fire had been laid with a lavish tea. There were tiny smoked salmon, egg and cress and cucumber sandwiches on the softest home-baked brown bread, exquisite cakes in pretty cases as well as warm scones and fragrant loose-leaf tea served from a silver pot which had its own little burner underneath.

A couple more dogs had joined the party, a spaniel and a chihuahua, and although the spaniel was giving the illusion of being asleep, the rapid darting of its eyebrows suggested otherwise. Any dropped crumb wouldn’t besmear the carpet for many seconds.

‘I really can’t thank you enough for this wonderful experience,’ said Dolly to both Catherine and Anna, once we had eaten and drunk our fill. ‘It’s been even lovelier than I imagined it would be.’

‘I can’t believe you’ve never been before,’ said Catherine. ‘It was a shame you missed coming with the Women’s Institute. Dorothy laid on a wonderful lunch.’

Dolly shifted a little in her seat as I looked at her. I was surprised she’d missed the opportunity too.