Alah was no fool; she had tended to little girls all her life, long enough to recognize wretchedness when she saw it.

She sat on the bed and put her arm over Marion’s shoulders. ‘Why don’t you tell Alah all about it?’

Alah listened without interruption, rubbing the heartbroken girl’s back, lending her handkerchief when necessary.

When Marion had nothing left to say, Alah stroked the young governess’s forehead, pushed the tear-damp hair from her eyes and said, ‘You don’t need to go to school to learn your job, lassie. Right now, you are learning at the very best school of all – life! I know how you feel about those poor children – but maybe God does not need you to do the hard work. He has put you here, on an off-chance, a special mission. And do our two little girls not deserve love and nurturing too? They who will grow up in a gilded cage – beautiful canaries who will never know the freedom of independence? Think of the friends they will never make, the small things that other children take for granted. They can’t go to a funfair and eat toffee apples, or take a trip to the seaside and watch a Punch and Judy show with children of their own age. I believe that the Lord has taken a hand in your destiny, Crawfie. You are just the right normal sort of girl who can give the Princesses a glimpse of reality. I thank God every night that the Duke is the second son. He will never have to face the burden his older brother will shoulder. Imagine the future the Prince of Wales sees laid out before him and then before his unborn children – chained to the throne by an accident of birth, born with a silver spoon in his mouth but iron shackles around his freedom.’

Marion wiped her nose, astonished by Alah’s speech. ‘My mother wouldn’t agree with any of that. She’s all for the revolution.’ She managed a sniffly smile.

‘Well, that is where we differ. The work you and I do is not just vital to the wellbeing of this family – it is vital to the welfare of this country. The royal family brings security and admiration from around the world. And they can’t do it without us. We dress them, drive them, feed them, care for their children, make their lives as smooth as clockwork, wash their linen, wipe their arses.’

‘Alah!’

‘It’s true! And why do we do it?’

Marion sighed. ‘I don’t know.’

‘Because we keep the good ship HMS Britain sailing. That’s why. A solid monarchy means a solid country.’

Marion stared at her. ‘Goodness, Alah! I never realized what a firebrand you are! My stepfather would have you shot.’

‘No, he wouldn’t.’

‘He would.’

‘Not while I’m looking after his daughter, he wouldn’t.’

‘Oh, Alah.’ Marion managed a smile. ‘Thank you. Do you think I should talk it over with the Duchess, though? I want her to understand that I love the girls but …’