‘Until the girls are educated.’

Marion looked blank.

The Duchess gave her one of her quick smiles. ‘You see, in this family, we like continuity, and we like to have people we trust around us. We trust you. The Duke and I think you have settled in very well and my daughters are very fond of you. We don’t want to let you go … if you are happy to stay.’

Marion’s brain was recalibrating. If she didn’t go to university now, she might never get the chance again. What was she to say?

‘I am very happy here,’ she began. She was about to add that she was only twenty-two, that she would like to stay but she really needed her qualification in order to get the career she wanted.

But for the Duchess, the matter was decided. ‘Good. That’s settled then.’

Lilibet ran over from the lawns, shrieking with laughter. ‘Margaret has put Dookie in a flower pot and we can’t get him out!’

The Duchess wafted a hand towards Marion. ‘Crawfie, dear, you have your afternoon’s work cut out for you.’ She smiled. ‘I am so pleased we have come to this arrangement.’

With a curtsey, Marion left to rescue Dookie and spend the hot afternoon looking after the girls. She felt deflated and anxious. It was flattering to be wanted, of course, but she was not ready to give up the future she longed for. What was she to do?

Dookie was exhausted by the time Marion and the girls were called in for the day. The August afternoon air had turned sticky, and black clouds were starting to billow over the tall plane trees of Hyde Park, which stood just across the road.

Marion felt the atmospheric pressure in her head. She had always been susceptible to migraines and found that the oppressive London air made them worse.

With Lilibet carrying the puppy under one arm and Marion carrying a droopy Margaret, she steered them up to the nursery.

Alah was ready and waiting for them. ‘So, this is the new baby in the nursery, is it?’ She took the weary Dookie from Marion and gave him to Bobo. ‘Take him to the kitchen and find him some supper while I bathe the girls.’

The Princesses begged that Dookie be allowed to stay in the nursery while they slept, but Alah was not to be moved. ‘I will not have a dog in the nursery – it’s enough that we have invisible ponies all over the place. Now, into the bathroom, clothes off. Your bath is ready.’

‘Are their Royal Highnesses not coming up for bath time, Alah?’ Marion asked, rubbing her temples. She could already hear water being splashed about in the bathroom.

‘Not tonight,’ Alah replied. ‘The Prince of Wales is coming for dinner and they need a rest before any visit from him.’

Marion’s ears pricked up. ‘The Prince of Wales? Coming here?’

Lilibet shouted from her bath. ‘I want to see Uncle David!’