‘Charles, I have worked my fingers to the bone to get us this far,’ Agatha shrilled. ‘I have moved heaven and earth to get you recognition in society.’

Their father didn’t reply but they heard the clink of the whisky bottle on glass.

‘We’ve come from relative obscurity,’ their mother continued, ‘to being one of the most important families in the county, and now you want to throw it all away.’

‘I appreciate all that you’ve done,’ their father said. He sounded tired, defeated. ‘But—’

‘But nothing, Charles. I won’t let you do it.’

‘The girl is very ill, Agatha.’

‘So?’

‘So, she needs peace and quiet. She needs to be nursed. She needs to be in one place. She can stay in the east wing.’ He paused, adding in a slightly lower tone, ‘I owe her that much.’

‘You may,’ Agatha sneered sarcastically. ‘But I don’t.’ There was no mistaking the venom in her cutting remark. ‘Send the hussy to the workhouse, where people of her sort belong.’

‘Do you always have to be so selfish, Agatha?’ their father implored.

Milly and Pearl jumped as they heard the sound of breaking glass. ‘You’re the selfish one!’ their mother screamed. ‘I absolutely refuse to have her here!’

Pressed against the wall outside, the two girls held their breath.

What on earth was going on? For a split second there was an awkward silence, and then Pearl seized her moment. Pinching her scratches to make them bleed again, she let out what sounded like a primeval scream as she threw herself through the French doors and into the room.

Chapter 2

Milly stayed in the garden just outside the French windows. Nobody seemed to notice her silently watching them as their mother descended into a frenzy of mild panic, but that was nothing new. Milly often felt invisible.

Pearl cried and bled all over the cushions. Charles rang the bell. When the maid arrived, Pearl wailed even louder, and Agatha demanded that Martha should tell Dixon to fetch the doctor.

Charles shook his head. ‘She’s all right,’ he said. ‘Patch her up with a bandage and she’ll be fine.’

Martha hesitated, unsure of what to do.

‘Well, go on girl,’ Agatha snapped. ‘Get Dixon to bring Doctor Jennings here this minute.’

Martha fled.

Clutching Pearl to her bosom as they sat together on the sofa, their mother looked up and saw Milly hovering in the doorway. ‘Did you have anything to do with this, Millicent?’ she accused. ‘If you’ve done this to your sister . . .’

Under her glasses, Milly’s eyes grew wide. ‘No, Mummy. No!’

‘Well, I wouldn’t put it past you.’

‘It wasn’t me, it was Cleo.’

‘Cleo?’ Agatha squeaked.

‘I’m sure Milly wouldn’t do such a thing,’ Charles said mildly.

His wife rounded on him. ‘And I do wish you wouldn’t call her that! It sounds so common. Her name is Millicent.’

With a long-suffering sigh, Charles reached for a cigarette from the box on the table and made himself comfortable in the armchair.

Turning towards him Agatha sneered, ‘Don’t you care that your other daughter has been injured? You’re a cold fish, aren’t you.’

‘And she’s a drama queen,’ Charles murmured.

Agatha smoothed the hair from Pearl’s forehead. ‘My poor baby. Tell me what happened, my darling,’ she soothed.

Between her hiccups, Pearl did her best to explain the events of the morning to her mother. ‘I was reading my book, Mummy,’ she began innocently, the tears pooling in her eyes once more, ‘just sitting on the chair like this, when all of a sudden Cleo jumped up and attacked me.’

Her father raised an eyebrow and coughed. Milly, still standing in the doorway, put one bare foot over the threshold. She had hoped that her lack of footwear would go unnoticed, but her mother’s eagle eyes spotted her.

‘And what on earth are you doing running about with no shoes?’ her mother demanded.

‘My shoes hurt my toes, Mummy.’

‘Oh for goodness’ sake, Millicent!’ her mother snapped. ‘Don’t make such a fuss. I told you we’re going into town on Wednesday, didn’t I. They can’t be that bad. You only had them at Christmas.’

Milly caught her breath and blinked. ‘But they really do hurt.’

‘All right, all right. There’s no need to keep reminding me.’ Then, turning back to Pearl, Agatha said, ‘You weren’t doing anything to upset the cat, were you, darling?’

‘Oh no, Mummy,’ said Pearl, shaking her head and blinking up at her mother innocently. ‘I didn’t do anything. I promise.’

Agatha looked puzzled. ‘Cleo always seemed such a gentle creature,’ she murmured, more to herself than anyone else.

Milly sucked in her bottom lip. ‘Mummy, Cleo didn’t like—’ she began.

‘That’s what I thought,’ Pearl interjected in a loud voice, drowning her sister out, ‘but she suddenly jumped up to my face and scratched me. Oh Mummy, it was so painful, I thought I was going to die. I screamed and screamed then she bit me.’

‘Bit you?’

‘Yes, on my arm,’ Pearl said. ‘Here. Look.’

Agatha’s expression darkened. Milly looked helplessly at her father, but he seemed miles away. There was a light knock on the door and the maid came back with the first-aid tin, a bowl of warm water, some soap and iodine.

‘Is the doctor coming?’ Agatha demanded.

‘Yes, ma’am.’

They all watched as Martha knelt in front of Pearl and put a towel onto her lap. Although the bleeding had stopped, she was very gentle as she bathed the girl’s wounds.

‘Don’t put that stuff on the bite,’ said Charles. ‘Just wrap it in a clean bandage.’

‘She should have iodine on both,’ Agatha insisted.