‘Good. You can start tomorrow. You can stay here tonight, until I have made other arrangements. Bring your box to the shop in the morning and I will introduce you to Nan.’ He looked at his wife. ‘I think that is a satisfactory solution to the situation, don’t you, my dear?’

‘Whatever you say, my love,’ she mumbled meekly.

Next morning, packing her few possessions into her box, May came across something she had not thought of since her first days in service – the rag doll which had once belonged to Angel. She held it to her cheek for a moment and fancied that she could still smell that faint, indefinable scent of a baby’s skin. Where was Angel now, she wondered. Living in some fine house, with all the toys she could want, probably. She packed the doll into her box, closed the lid and carried it out into the kitchen, where Mrs Wilkins was washing the breakfast dishes.

‘You’ll be off, then,’ she remarked.

‘Yes. Goodbye, Mrs Wilkins.’

‘Goodbye – and good riddance,’ the cook said. And with that kindly farewell ringing in her ears, May closed the door and climbed the area steps to the road.

‘Service entrance is down the side, miss.’

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.