After climbing the stairs, she entered Ruby’s bedroom and sank onto the side of the bed. As usual, it was just as Ruby had left it, with clothes and dirty glasses strewn all over the place. Even now that they had no servants she still expected to be waited on hand and foot. After a time, Miss Fox rose and wearily began to tidy things away, and it was as she was placing some handkerchiefs into a drawer that she noticed something tucked beneath them. She investigated, and withdrew a number of sealed envelopes addressed to Treetops Manor in Nuneaton. After opening the first one, she gasped. These must be the letters that Kitty had written to Sunday and Tom when she had first arrived at Brunswick Villa at the age of fifteen. No wonder Kitty had been so dismissive of them when they had gone to see her at Wilton’s Music Hall. The poor girl must have thought that they had been ignoring the letters she had written to them. But Ruby had deliberately never posted the letters so her family would have no forwarding address. And all this time the poor girl must have been thinking that they had abandoned her. This was the worst act of all and suddenly Foxy realised what she must do. She made her way to her own room and after some thought as to what she should write, she quickly jotted down a letter then hurried away to post it while she still had the courage.

A few days later as Sunday was sifting through the mail at Treetops, she came across a small packet with handwriting that she didn’t recognise. Carrying it through to the drawing room she settled into the window seat, smiling when she saw Ben playing with the evacuee children outside on the lawn. Despite her initial fears about how he would react to them, they had done him good and accepted him exactly as he was.

Ben had come a long way since his return home when he had refused to leave his bedroom. He had been so ashamed of the damage to his face that he couldn’t bear anyone to look at him. The livid scars on his arm could be hidden with a shirt, but the same couldn’t be said for those on his face – yet very slowly he was coming to terms with the fact that he was just going to have to live with them. In truth, they had healed a great deal in the time he had been home. The angry redness had faded, but one side of his face was permanently disfigured and he still wouldn’t leave the grounds of Treetops despite all their best attempts to persuade him to do so. Ben had resigned himself to a life alone. As he’d pointed out, who would want him now, looking like this? Someone who truly loves you, Sunday had gently told him but this was something he found impossible to believe.