She walked back, turning over various ploys in her mind. She could go to the service entrance and pretend she was looking for work. But suppose there was actually a job on offer? She would have to give her name and be asked for her references. She wondered if any of the staff had the afternoon off. If she could somehow get into conversation with a chambermaid or a ladies’ maid … As she was racking her brains she saw the front door open and a nursemaid in a smart uniform came out, leading Angel by the hand. May caught her breath, and then forced herself to turn her back. If Angel recognised her, the nursemaid would almost certainly take her back into the house and report the incident to her mistress. She reminded herself that all she intended to do was watch and try to make out if the little girl was happy.

The pair were walking away from her, back towards Princes Road. May followed, keeping her distance. A few houses further along they were joined by another nursemaid with two more little girls, one about Angel’s age and one a little older. At the junction they turned right and crossed the broad avenue towards an imposing gateway, beyond which May could see tall trees in their golden autumn plumage. To her amazement, the little party walked straight in through the gates. Surely, May reasoned, this must be the private estate of some great aristocrat and anyone not invited in would be trespassing. But the two nursemaids and their charges were not the only ones going in. Four ladies and gentlemen out for a Sunday afternoon stroll followed; a boy bowling a hoop ran ahead of his mother and two more appeared carrying model yachts.

Emboldened, May followed in their wake. Inside was a landscape she had never expected to see outside the pictures in a storybook. There were gravel walks between flower beds still bright with the last blooms of summer and glossy-leaved shrubs and more different kinds of trees than she had ever known existed, some still green, others the colour of firelight, red and amber and gold. Further on she caught the glimmer of sunlight on water and found herself skirting a lake, where the colours were reflected. She was so enchanted by the sights that opened up before her that she almost forgot the purpose of her expedition, but the two nursemaids and their charges were still ahead of her.