May looked up at the doorman in his smart uniform and felt herself blush. Of course, seeing her arrive carrying her box, he would have known she was not a customer.

‘Beg pardon, sir,’ she mumbled, and turned quickly away.

She found her way down the alley at the side of the shop to a door marked ‘Freemans – Staff Entrance’. Suddenly her embarrassment was transformed into a sense of pride. She was more than a customer. She belonged!

Inside, she was stopped by another doorman, less splendidly costumed.

‘Please, sir. I’m supposed to see Mr Freeman. I’m coming to work here.’

‘Right you are. Go down that passage to the far end, turn left and you’ll see Mr Freeman’s office at the end.’

May arrived outside an impressive door of solid oak. Her heart was thumping and her arms ached with the strain of carrying her box. She knocked timidly and was reassured by the familiar voice calling, ‘Come in.’

Mr Freeman was seated behind a large desk, and next to him stood a small woman who seemed to May, at first sight, to be completely round: a round body, tightly swathed in a black dress, and a round, red face.

Mr Freeman looked across at her with a smile. ‘Ah, you’re here. Good. Nan, this is May Lavender, your new apprentice. May, this is Mrs Driscoll – but I’m sure she will be happy for you to call her Nan, like everyone else.’

‘May Lavender,’ the little woman said. ‘Pretty name for a pretty girl.’

May felt herself blush again. She never thought of herself as pretty.

‘Nan, can you see that May is provided with a suitable dress?’ Freeman said. ‘I’ll leave her in your capable hands. I’m sure the two of you are going to get along famously.’

Nan led her along a warren of corridors to a room where several women were sitting at tables, stitching, and rolls of brightly coloured fabrics were stacked along the walls.

‘New recruit,’ she announced. ‘Needs fitting out with a uniform dress.’

May had already seen that all the assistants on the shop floor wore coats and skirts in the same dark blue, with white blouses. It seemed that this uniform colour extended to those working behind the scenes, but in the form of a dress. She was more than happy to exchange her worn, black skirt and much-darned blouse for one of these.

‘You’re a skinny little thing, aren’t you?’ the seamstress who fitted her remarked. ‘You’ll have to feed her up, Nan.’

‘Oh, you can leave that to me,’ Nan responded with a chuckle. ‘Now then, bring your box and I’ll show you where we work.’

May followed her down another passage and into a room, which, to her eyes, resembled an Aladdin’s cave. Hats in various stages of completion rested on hat blocks and stands on the tables, and surrounding them were boxes full of ribbons and coloured feathers and artificial flowers.

‘Oh!’ the exclamation escaped without her intention.