"I'm sorry ye've had to sell yer wardrobe. I know how much ye young girls like pretty frocks. I know I had an eye on them when I was yer age. Not that I want ta see the back of ye, but hopefully you'll be able to get into a 'ouse." She made a note to go through her things later and see if there were dresses once worn by slender Lottie that could be restyled and gifted.

The older woman gazed up at the ceiling of the kitchen grimly. This house had belonged to the elderly mother of one of the town's bank managers. Lottie had been a housekeeper of sorts in her final years. When the lady died, as a token of goodwill her son arranged favourable terms for Bill to purchase the house for his growing family. Despite Lottie doing the hard work, but then she had the woe of not being born a man.