‘Some of them will have relations in the town,’ she said quietly, ‘customers of mine most probably.’

As though on cue the shop door opened and two women came in. Daisy saw to them but it wasn’t lost on either Rose or Alexander that the women were far more interested in them than in what they were purchasing, and once outside the premises they both turned and looked back before scurrying away.

So it begins, Rose sighed, and with the thought came a stiffening of her back. ‘Betsy and I will be ready after school at half-past three,’ she said curtly, ‘and now I have work to do.’

Alexander saw Daisy wink at him behind Rose’s back but he kept his face straight when he said, ‘Perfect. I’ll be here on time.’

There were snowflakes in the wind as the car drew up at the foot of the Hall steps. Betsy had been as quiet as a lamb on the way to Highfield Hall, the wonder of riding in a motor car stilling her usual chatter. Rose knew how her daughter felt, but was determined not to show her own awe of Alexander’s father’s Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost and had kept up her end of the conversation on the way to the Hall; but she had fallen silent when the house had come into view. She had expected something grand but not this breathtaking palace of a place that was beyond beautiful.

The front doors of the house opened as the car pulled up and a footman stood on the terrace for a moment before he came running down the steps to open the passenger door, whereupon he assisted Rose onto the pebbled drive and then Betsy. Alexander joined them, taking her elbow as he walked her up the steps and into the hall with Betsy, still tongue-tied, clinging on to her hand.

The first thing that struck Rose as she entered the house was the warmth. There was a roaring fire set in a grand stone fireplace at the far end of the hall but she had no time to take more in because a butler had appeared, and he took their coats, hats and gloves. She was wearing the smart sage green costume that she had bought specially for her visit to the bank manager some time ago when in the process of buying the bakery, and Betsy was clothed in her Sunday best, a red velvet dress with lace collar and cuffs. She had thought they both looked very nice while they had been waiting for Alexander to collect them but now in the face of all this grandeur she wasn’t so sure.