Rose was nearly seven months pregnant and Betsy had got her wish – it was twins. This, along with the fact that a month ago, at the beginning of August, war had been declared as Britons had returned from the Bank Holiday, had caused considerable changes for the occupants of Highfield Hall.

Britain’s declaration of war against Germany had sent cheering crowds onto the streets of every big city in the country, singing the national anthem and working themselves into a fever of patriotism. Young men had sung on the way to the recruiting office, desperate to do their bit for King and country before the war was over, as everyone knew they’d beat the Germans before Christmas. Right was on their side after all, and the Kaiser should be strung up for what he was doing to the poor Belgians. This sentiment had been felt at Highfield and several of the servants, including Franklin and the other footman and four of the outside staff, had joined up in the first few days, followed a week later by the groom, the eldest stable lad and the remaining under-gardener.

Earlier in the year, when Rose had discovered she was pregnant with twins, she had made the decision to gift the bakery over to Daisy – lock, stock and barrel – feeling that whatever the future held, her time there was done. A few days after this she had received another of the envelopes filled with black rose petals – the third since her marriage to Alexander. She didn’t know where Nathaniel was living or what he was doing but it was an indication that he was still around and wanted her to know so.

She hadn’t mentioned the letters to anyone – she didn’t want Alexander worrying when he was away, besides which envelopes with dead petals inside them was hardly a crime, but she watched over Betsy like a hawk and fretted every minute her daughter was at school. Betsy, who had had her twelfth birthday in the summer, had accepted her fussing good-naturedly at first but over the last months had begun to object when she couldn’t go anywhere without an escort. Rose agonized over whether to tell her daughter about Nathaniel but always came to the conclusion that she didn’t want to frighten her unnecessarily. Childhood was supposed to be a time of carefree days and enjoyment; this was something she herself had never experienced in the workhouse, and she didn’t want Betsy to miss out too. Besides which, they were all worried about Alexander fighting in France and that was enough for the child to cope with.