“Hurry, hurry!” he called, “or we miss train!”

“That child is Eastern!” Nanny murmured in a low voice so that Dipa could not hear.

“It’s all right, Nanny,” Carina said hastily. “Don’t worry.”

Now the moment of parting had come.

The old woman clasped Carina and the tears ran down her cheeks.

“My baby, my darlin’!” she said. “I will be thinking of you and prayin’ everythin’ will be all right. You’ll write to me? Promise you’ll write to me? You have my brother’s address, I put it in your bag.”

“Yes, of course I will, Nanny,” Carina answered, her own eyes full of tears. “I can never thank you for all you have done for us and for all you have meant to me.”

Then, because it was impossible to say more, she rushed to the cab, pausing only to press a pound into David’s astonished hand.

The cabby whipped up the horse. Dipa waved hurriedly out of the window, but Carina put her handkerchief to her eyes and could not look.

She could not think of anything now without a lump coming into her throat.

How was she ever going to manage without Nanny? she wondered. She had always been there, she had been everything to them all. Not only had she loved Carina and looked after her since the moment she was born, but later she had been lady’s maid to her mother.

Then, when things had grown difficult, Nanny had been cook, housekeeper, butler, kitchen maid and everything else.

Never once had she complained as she had toiled up the highest stairs of the house, which had once required twelve servants. But there was only her and old David, who was too simple to worry about wages.

The only thing that Carina had asked of Cousin Hubert was that he should take David.

“He has been with us all his life,” she had written. “He is the son of my grandfather's groom, but not intelligent enough to be able to look after the horses and so, ever since he has been a little boy, he has always done the odd jobs around the house.”

Cousin Hubert had written back that he supposed something would have to be done about David and Carina knew that this would be another stick to beat her with. Not only had they to feed and house her but also to take on her father’s dependants for whom he had made no provision!

Carina wondered what Cousin Hubert would say when he arrived tomorrow morning to find that she had gone, leaving only a letter.

She had written that letter this morning before she had gone out to look for a job, certain with the irrepressible hopefulness of youth that she would find one.

‘Whatever happens now,’ she told herself, ‘I will never crawl back – never – never – never – ’