‘Hardly bric-a-brac.’ Crawfie glanced over her shoulder. ‘Someone may hear you.’

Tommy strode on, grinning. ‘You must learn not to be so deferent, Miss Crawford. It’s not good for you and it’s not good for them. So, what did you choose?’

‘A small jug which I shall treasure.’

‘How very ungreedy of you. I picked a paperweight. Very heavy. Caithness glass. An excellent murder weapon.’

The Princesses had reached the palace lake and were standing perilously close to the edge. ‘Wait, girls, please!’ Crawfie called.

The girls waved back at her in acknowledgement.

‘Admirable obedience,’ Tommy noted. ‘Do you think the Princess Elizabeth has the character to make a good Queen if and when the time comes?’

Crawfie was certain. ‘She has a very fine character. Thoughtful and kind, never short of a question. And what’s more, she listens to the answer.’

‘A good head on young shoulders, you think?’ Tommy asked.

‘Aye.’

‘Her grandmother, the Dowager Queen, sets an excellent example. I admire her very much. Did you know that her first engagement was to George V’s older brother? Some sort of arrangement was made with Queen Victoria. Anyway, the poor blighter died and the younger George was pushed gently in her direction. Or perhaps it was the other way around, but it became an excellent match and a successful reign. She’ll be happy in Marlborough House, eventually.’

Crawfie privately wished the Dowager Queen might have been allowed to remain at Buckingham Palace. To have lost her husband last year, and now to lose her home and her job seemed so very awful. But she kept her thought to herself.

A burst of sunshine suddenly lit up the bare trees and the reeds at the edge of the pond where it bounced off the water. A coot swam out of the shadows and picked its way through a patch of weed.

‘Crawfie, look!’ shouted Margaret. ‘Duck!’

Tommy was an excellent naturalist, pointing out the crocuses poking through the grass and the buds on the trees. He played a bird-spotting game with the girls to see how many they could name.

Eventually, as the sky grew yellow above them, Crawfie shivered. ‘I think we ought to be going in now. It’s cold enough for snow.’

‘Just one more thing to show you,’ insisted Tommy. ‘Follow me.’

Dutifully the Princesses and their governess trooped behind him as he led them to the very end of the garden, where a grassy incline took them to the top of the Palace’s high perimeter wall. ‘The best view in London,’ he said. ‘Come and see.’

‘Look at all the people!’ said Margaret, peering over the top on tiptoes.

Lilibet was at her side. ‘I can see Hyde Park. Look at that boy on his bike.’

‘Look at that girl there.’ Margaret pointed. ‘I should like a red coat like hers.’

‘We are like spies up here.’ Lilibet smiled. ‘Let’s see if we can hear what the people are talking about.’

Lilibet and Margaret giggled at how naughty this seemed, and Crawfie and Tommy found themselves listening too. The snippets they heard, while not earth-shattering, seemed strangely fascinating.