‘I’m afraid you’re right,’ she said, and her voice was rueful. ‘I must try harder with Maggie but she makes it so difficult at times. And other times I think Kitty is just too pretty for her own good and it worries me. I fear that when she’s older, men will be drawn to her like moths to a flame.’

‘That’s a long way in the future,’ Tom said. ‘We’ll worry about that when we come to it, but for now … why don’t you come to bed and get your old man warm?’

Sunday laid down the hairbrush and approached the bed, only too willing to do as she was asked.

Chapter Two

It was almost five years to the day since they had found Kitty on the doorstep when Em’ly tapped on the drawing-room door to tell Sunday, ‘This was left outside, missus. I heard the sound of a motor car in the distance an’ I peeked out, and that was when I saw it lyin’ there.’

Sunday glanced at the large brown envelope and instantly guessed what it was. Each year in December, a similar envelope containing a sum of money had been left there. This year she had spent most of the month peeping out of the front windows, hoping to catch a glimpse of whoever it was that had left it – but once again she had somehow missed them.

Tom looked at her and quipped, ‘Seems they’ve evaded you again.’ Then, taking the envelope from her, he opened it and let out a silent whistle at the banknotes enclosed inside. ‘This is far too much for one child’s keep,’ he said. ‘Perhaps we should start to put it away for Kitty for when she’s older?’

Sunday had been thinking much the same thing herself, and was relieved to learn that Tom was of the same mind. ‘I think that’s an excellent idea, but I can’t understand how I missed them again.’ Her eyes strayed back to the window and she sighed with frustration.

‘But you haven’t been able to stand there every minute,’ her husband pointed out. ‘And I dare say whoever it is will make themselves known when the time is right.’

‘I suppose so,’ she agreed, but she couldn’t help but be curious. Whoever it was who was paying such a large sum of money for Kitty’s expenses must truly care about her. The trouble was, Sunday dreaded the day when they might well turn up and take Kitty back, because she had come to love the child as her own. Even so, now was not the time to fret about it, she decided. Christmas was racing towards them and there were the rest of the children to think about, so she left Tom to put the money away in the safe and went about her business.

‘Now calm down, you lot, else this tree is goin’ to be ruined. We can’t all get to it at once,’ Cissie scolded. Earlier in the day, Tom and George had taken the pony and trap into town and arrived home with the biggest Christmas tree any of them had ever seen. Now it stood in a large bucket of earth in the entrance hall and the children were keen to decorate it. The trouble was, they were attacking it from all sides, jostling each other, and Cissie was getting harassed. Thankfully, just then, Em’ly appeared to tell them, ‘Come on, all of you, dinner is served. Into the dinin’ room now afore it gets cold.’