‘Thank you.’ Kitty watched the kindly little woman flit away then sank down onto the end of her bed feeling totally overwhelmed. She had an idea that this new life was going to take quite a bit of getting used to.

At that moment, back at Treetops, Sunday was standing in the middle of Kitty’s room crying quietly. It was the only place she could come where she felt close to her now. Both Kitty and Ben had always been special to her, but since the revelation that Ben was Tom’s son she hadn’t been able to come to terms with it. She knew that she should, but her emotions were still all over the place. It wasn’t Ben’s fault that her husband had fathered him, of course, and the young man was still as caring towards her as ever, but for some reason now she found herself holding him at arm’s length. She was doing exactly the same to Tom. They hadn’t lain together since the letter informing them of Ben’s natural mother had arrived, although Tom had tried to love her on numerous occasions. Somehow the closeness they had shared was gone and she feared it might never return. Now on top of that she had lost Kitty too, the little girl she had adored since the second she saw her, and she felt as if her world was falling apart.

For some long time now Sunday had resigned herself to the fact that she would never bear any children of her own, but having Ben and Kitty to pour her love into had been a huge consolation. And now in different ways they were both gone. She knew that Ben was feeling Kitty’s going too. Ever since they had arrived back from the station the light seemed to have gone from his eyes and he had found any job he could to keep himself occupied. A noise behind her made her whirl about to find Tom watching her with a worried expression on his face.

‘Come away out of here, pet,’ he encouraged, feeling her pain. ‘We’ll go down an’ see what the children are up to, eh?’ He held his hand out to her but ignoring it, she swiped the tears from her face with the back of her hand and straightened up.

‘I’m quite all right,’ she said coldly and with that she stalked past him, leaving him there to stare after her wondering, as she herself had, if they would ever be the same again.

True to her word an hour or so later, Miss Fox tapped on Kitty’s bedroom door and on entering the room she smiled at her approvingly.

Kitty had only brought three outfits and an assortment of underclothes with her as Miss Fox had advised her. There was the outfit she had travelled in, plus another blouse and skirt that was suitable for daytime wear, and the dress she was wearing now, which was one of her newer ones. It was made of a fine ivory silk. Sunday had always felt that young ladies looked their best in pastel colours and this dress certainly set off Kitty’s dark beauty to perfection. It had a modestly low lace-trimmed neckline and short lace sleeves, with a tight waist that flared into a slightly wider skirt at the front with a small train at the back. Other than the lace it had no adornments whatsoever but it was the simplicity of it set against Kitty’s dark hair and flawless skin that made it so stunning.