‘Don’t be daft, Phil,’ chimed in Dora. ‘We don’t expect our children to pay us to bring them up.’

‘I didn’t mean that, you soft woman,’ he snapped. ‘Just she’s never earned owt much and paid her way before, that’s all.’

‘Well, that’s all about to change so let’s be glad for her,’ said Dora, bringing the subject to an end. ‘Now, we need to get our tea on the table. Gina, you can scrub those taters and put the oven on.’

‘Yes, Mum, and then I’m off up to pack my stuff. I’m moving into the Hall tomorrow.’

‘Good thing you’ve got the loan of the bicycle then,’ said Ellen, ‘because I shan’t be lugging your bag over there.’

‘Thanks, Ellen,’ said Gina sarcastically. ‘I’ll remember that when I take the things over.’

It sounded like a threat, but Ellen was too tired to care after a day dealing with the flood. She felt sure the sound of water dripping into buckets would haunt her dreams that night. Still, there was a bright side to all this. At least she’d have the bedroom to herself for a while.

Next morning the rain had ceased but the sky was dismal and overcast. Ellen and Dora set out for the Hall at the usual time, leaving Gina to finish packing up her things and transport as much as she could in the bicycle basket. If there was too much, she’d have to make a second journey.

‘I’d best go round to the back straight away and see how those buckets are,’ said Ellen to her mother as they walked up the long drive towards the house. ‘I think Uncle Tom will have been up all night emptying them.’

She was nearly right.

‘Well, it stopped raining about midnight, and the dripping had slowed right down at about one o’clock,’ Tom told her when she found him inspecting the buckets. He sounded surprisingly bright considering he’d been up half the night, but then he’d always been a cheerful sort. ‘The good thing is, Mr Smithers from Great Grindle is coming over this morning with his fellas to fix it, so I’m hoping we’ve seen the last of the flood mess. Apart from the garden, that is.’

‘Oh, no! What’s happened?’

‘You didn’t think that much rain would have no effect, did you, Nell? Go and take a look at the rose garden. I’d like you to work on that today, please, but keep your mac on – it’ll be a wet business. And take a wheelbarrow with you.’

‘Sounds bad.’

‘It is bad, lass.’

The rose garden was Ellen’s favourite and Tom had given her plenty of responsibility to keep it looking good since she’d started working there. Her heart sank but she couldn’t go without telling Tom about Gina’s temporary new job as housekeeper.