Like Arthur Partridge, it seemed that Mabel too, came from a family where a drinking man ruled the roost.

Kitty felt sorry for her, and when Mabel moved on to the second-hand clothes stall to have a poke about, she quickly purchased the length of ribbon for her and popped it in her pocket. She knew that she was attracting more than a few curious glances. The other shoppers were clearly working-class people but in the fine skirt and blouse which Ruby had bought for her, Kitty felt as if she stuck out like a sore thumb. Quickly moving on, she caught up with Mabel and with their purchases complete, they set off for home, taking it in turns to carry the basket. On the way, Kitty gave Mabel the little gift she had bought for her, and the girl was so touched that there were tears in her eyes as she said, ‘Oh, miss, you shouldn’t have done that, but I’m glad you did and I’ll keep it for special occasions. Thank you.’

When they arrived home, Mabel entered the house by the back door as was expected of the staff while Kitty entered through the front to find Ruby in the hall fussing over an enormous basket of flowers that had just been delivered.

‘They’re from dear Hector,’ Ruby informed her gleefully. ‘Do you remember him? You met him in my dressing room after my performance at the Prince of Wales. He’s such a sweet man! And he’s taking me out to dinner again this evening. You won’t mind dining alone, will you, darling? Foxy will keep you company.’

‘Of course not,’ Kitty answered her just as a knock sounded on the door. The housemaid answered it to admit Max and Richard Fitzherbert – and the second she set eyes on the photographer Kitty felt hot colour flood into her cheeks.

‘Ah, I’m glad we’ve caught you both in.’ Max slung his hat onto the hall chair as if he owned the place. ‘I’ve brought Richard along to show you the photographs. They are really outstanding. I’m sure you’re going to be pleased with them.’ His eyes settled on the basket of flowers then and he grinned. ‘New admirer, Ruby? Good for you. Now shall we go and look at these pictures?’

Without waiting for an answer, he strode towards the day room, and incensed that he hadn’t appeared to be the least bit jealous about her new beau, Ruby followed with a face like a dark raincloud.

Once inside, Richard took the photographs from a large envelope and proudly spread them out on a table that stood in the window. Kitty stared at them, hardly able to believe that they were of her. The one of her leaning slightly forward showed an awful lot of cleavage to her mind and was quite risqué, although no one else seemed to be anything but thrilled with them.

‘Oh, definitely that one.’ Ruby poked a plump finger at the one Kitty had been eyeing uncertainly.