‘I’m bringing along an acquaintance to see you,’ Max told her. ‘He is a very well-respected theatre critic who is always looking out for new talent. If you can impress him enough to get your name into the newspaper he works for, the managers of the music halls will be clamouring to book you, trust me.’

Kitty did trust him – completely – and now she was looking forward to the outing, although there was another aimless morning to get through first. She found the mornings the worst time, which was why she’d taken to going out exploring the neighbourhood. She rarely saw Ruby until early afternoon and often wondered how the woman could bear to spend so long in bed. The day was usually more than half over before she put in an appearance.

Kitty was sitting in the window strumming her fingers on the sill, watching the traffic in the street below as she tried to think what she could do to pass the time. And then it occurred to her. She could write to Sunday and Tom again. Perhaps her last letter hadn’t reached them. After all, letters did sometimes get lost in the post! Rising, she gathered together some paper and a pen and for the next half an hour she wrote, telling them all about her new life, but this time she was a little more honest than she had been in the first letter.

Dear Sunday and Tom,

I hope this letter finds you all well there at Treetops. As I write this I can picture you all rushing about doing everything that needs to be done, and in my mind I can see the children playing along the hallway. I am settling in here reasonably well although I do get a little homesick from time to time. My mother, who has asked if I would call her ‘Aunt’, is a very busy lady, so I tend to be on my own for much of the time and the house here is so quiet inside compared to Treetops, although the same cannot be said for the outside. I am still getting used to all the noise and the traffic, although I’m sure Tom would love seeing all the automobiles that are so much more common here than they are there up in Nuneaton.

On a happier note, my mother’s agent is taking me shopping for a new outfit for my debut performance at a club in Soho where I will be singing next week! He assures me that if all goes well I might soon be appearing in the music halls and earning my own living. I’m very excited at the prospect. Perhaps I will be good enough to follow in my mother’s footsteps? I am a little disappointed that you haven’t replied to my first letter as yet, but I do understand how very busy you all are. It would be lovely to hear about all that’s going on at home, though, if you could perhaps spare the time? I often think of you all but now I should be thinking of getting ready to go shopping so I will end my letter and hope to hear from you very soon,