‘If you fink I’m gerrin’ in there you’ve got anovver fink comin’!’ Bobby announced after being led to the bathroom and eyeing the steamy suds. He had never been fully immersed in water as far as he could remember and had no intention of doing it now.

‘But you’ll feel so much better when you’ve had a bath,’ Edith coaxed. ‘And just look at these lovely warm pyjamas you can put on when you get out.’

Bobby stood his ground, planting his legs apart and crossing his skinny arms as he glared at her, so Sunday tried another approach.

‘Well, that’s a shame. We’ll have to bath Peggy first then, so she’ll get the first warm jam tarts straight out of the oven, oh, and her cup of cocoa too, of course.’

‘What?’ Bobby’s ears pricked up as his mouth watered. ‘Warm jam tarts?’

Sunday nodded. ‘Yes, being as it’s your first night here Cook thought she’d spoil you, but if you don’t want any it doesn’t matter.’

He seemed to weigh things up in his mind before saying reluctantly, ‘All right then, I’ll gerrin, but only if you two go outta the room while I get undressed!’

‘Of course,’ Sunday took Edith’s elbow and led her out onto the landing and soon they heard a shout as Bobby stepped into the water.

‘Bleedin’ ’ell! This water is too hot! Are yer tryin’ to scald me?’

The two women went back into him and the smiles died on their faces as they saw the bruises all across his small body.

‘How did you get these?’ Sunday asked gently as, much to Bobby’s disgust, she began to scrub his lank, mousy-coloured hair with a bar of carbolic soap.

His lips set in a mutinous line and he remained obstinately silent. When his hair was thoroughly washed, Sunday took a fine-toothed nit comb from her pocket and began to rake it through as he protested loudly.

‘’Ere! I never said yer could do that! Gerroff me,’ he shouted.

‘The quieter you sit the sooner it will be done,’ Sunday informed him firmly and to her surprise he became still, although he was cursing the whole time beneath his breath. ‘There,’ she said eventually, shocked to see how many nits she had dragged from his hair. ‘Me and Edith will go out onto the landing now if you want to get dried. You can put those clean pyjamas on then.’

She and Edith walked sedately from the room and when he joined them, he was almost unrecognisable. He had looked dark before but now his skin glowed pink and instead of lying flat against his head his hair – which they had thought was dark – had turned fair and was already beginning to spring into little waves.