‘Or his young readers,’ joked Tom. ‘He’s in Great Grindle, so you could get the bus, or walk if you’ve got the time. Hand me your notebook and I’ll write down the name of the cottage …’

Gina liked the complete set of black clothes that Mrs Stellion had supplied as her uniform. They made the position of housekeeper seem as if it really was hers.

‘I think you’ll want to keep your own things for when you’re not working,’ Mrs Stellion had said kindly, eyeing the dress and cardigan Gina had presented herself in on her first day. Gina knew they weren’t really right for the job, but they were Ellen’s, and after Ellen had been so nasty about the housekeeping position, and unhelpful about lending a hand to move her things, Gina thought it only right to take them and teach her a lesson.

Dora had collared Gina soon after she’d arrived that first morning.

‘You take those clothes back to Nell,’ she’d ordered. ‘That was a right mean thing to do, Gina.’

Gina had looked mutinous.

‘Gina, you heard me, and you can do as you’re told for once.’

‘All right, Mum, I will,’ Gina had said, but she’d kept the clothes until she had the black uniform, and then decided not to send any of her pay home until she’d bought herself a couple of new frocks.

It was typical of Nell to make a fuss about a shabby old frock and a hand-knitted cardi. It wasn’t as if anyone important was looking at her anyway, digging in the dirt in the rain and then spending her free time with Ed Beveridge mooning over her, or else with Sally Mason, who was Nell’s best friend and had been since infants’ school, and who had been given the job at the shop when Gina herself was sacked over the missing money.

After a few days at Grindle Hall, however, it occurred to Gina that no one was looking at her there either. She’d thought life at the Hall would be fun, people coming and going all the time – interesting people who knew life beyond this half-dead corner of Lancashire – but no one exciting had visited so far. Mrs Bassett dealt with most of the deliveries at the back door: farmers and shopkeepers with food orders. Gina could meet farmers and shopkeepers in Little Grindle any time, and had no wish to do so now at the Hall.