Eventually, hearing the soft chimes from the clock in her room, alerting her to the fact that it was seven o’clock, she rose to her feet and went to start unpacking. When she had sorted out the clothes that needed to go to the laundry room, she changed out of her travelling garments and took a velvet evening dress from the clothes press. There had been no call for such finery during her time on board ship or in Bombay, and the last time she had worn it was for Jenny’s wedding. The silk velvet was soft to her skin as she slipped it over her head, and it absorbed the heat from her body. She wished that Harry was there to see her dressed in such finery. In a pensive mood, she went to sit on the dressing table stool, gazing into the mirror with a silver-backed hairbrush clutched in her hand. She thought of Jenny and wondered how she was adjusting to married life. Jenny and Hedley must have reached their posting by now and it would be a huge change from rural Walthamstow or the bustle and comparative sophistication of Finsbury Square. Kate brushed her hair and knotted it carefully at the back of her neck. It was, after all, a family meal and there was no need for an elaborate coiffure.

She was about to return to the drawing room for a sherry before dinner, when she remembered her promise to tell the children a bedtime story. Not wanting to disappoint them, she climbed the stairs to the floor where the old nursery suite was situated, but when she opened the door she was enveloped in a cloud of feathers from a burst pillowcase. The children stopped bouncing on their beds and froze, gazing at her with guilt written all over their faces.

‘It was Frankie who started it,’ May said urgently. ‘We’re going to get into ever such a lot of trouble.’

‘I think you’re right.’ Kate tried hard to keep a straight face. ‘It looks as if the snowstorm has come inside.’

‘Are you going to tell Ma?’ Frankie asked sheepishly. ‘We won’t get our presents if you do.’

Kate put her head on one side, looking from one to the other. ‘Well now, that wouldn’t do, would it? I tell you what. If you clear up this mess right now we’ll say no more about it.’ She perched on the edge of Charlie’s bed and lifted him onto her lap. ‘Perhaps it would help if I told you a story while you’re stuffing all those feathers back in the pillowcases.’

‘Yes, please.’ Nellie bent down, scooping armfuls of feathers back into the cotton ticking. ‘Come on, Frankie. You started it, so you can do most of the hard work.’