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Vanessa's okay, and quite the best of the bunch. Anyway, I'm hoping that employing you will be a worthwhile experiment; proving my point to the Directors.'
    Now it all made sense, but what the hell could he possibly mean by me being an experiment? He'd then walked slowly back round to the other side of his desk again, talking as he went. 'I feel in this short time that you and I have already become quite a team.'
    Enthralled, I followed him with my eyes.
    'I like the way you tick, Annabel. You have a sharp, expert eye, and what's more you know your trade. You're keen to learn; I like that. You could almost say we're two of a kind…'
    Fazed by this comment, I’d wondered what he was about to tell me?
    I shuffled on my chair, and crossed my legs; all ears now. Seated, and leaning forward on his desk, he'd clasped his slim fingers neatly together. 'Look, no one here knows this, but I'd like you to know. I actually come from a pretty humble background. I was an abandoned baby and never knew my real mother. So I was brought up in a Barnardo’s home in the East End, fostered out from time to time to various salubrious homes. Not always happy times for me, either. I've therefore had to learn things the hard way; drag myself up, so to speak, to where I am now. Therefore I feel I can relate more easily to someone like you. Oh, don’t get me wrong; I know you’ve had a much better upbringing than I, but I can tell all the same, that you've still had a pretty down to earth sort of background. You worked hard at college, just as I did, and you aim to get somewhere in life. I admire that.'
    He'd then paused, looking at his watch, almost as if a little embarrassed at having disclosed all these personal facts to me. 'Enough said.' He sighed and rising again walked round to me. I uncrossed my legs and rose also.
    'Better run along now or the others will wonder where you are.' One hand on my arm, his brown eyes looked into mine. 'Just remember one thing; I sincerely want to help you. You deserve to get on. I'd therefore hate to see you make any wrong moves; that's all.' With a tiny squeeze of my arm, he tilted his head towards the door. 'Off you go, now.'
    This revelation about his humble background had completely shattered me. Slowly, what Edward had told me that day began to register with me. My God, if he can make the grade then, damn it, I can too.
    'We'll talk again,’ he'd said, holding the door open. 'I have great hopes for you. You'll go far Annabel. Mark my words.'
    Of course I'd felt undeniably flattered, but also exultant. Suddenly Vanessa and her cronies weren't half as important as knowing that a designer as successful as Edward was genuinely interested in my future.
    Overcome with exhilaration I'd almost skipped along the passage that day to the main salon. I had just taken the first step in securing true recognition in Edward Hamilton's eyes. Wow! In my wildest dreams I could never have imagined such a thing happening. So soon too! At the time I'd barely been working there nine months.
    The way he had confided in me that day had blown me away. Yet in a way it had also been a huge compliment. He'd not asked me, but I decided to keep the knowledge about his background to myself. I felt completely different about things after that; about Edward, about my job, as well as the girls with whom I worked. Knowing how well Edward thought of me had given me instantly more confidence and pride.
    Now of course, it was all coming together; all his early good intentions towards me were about to be truly realised at last, with my wonderful new job as designer of the Miss Courtney range.
    *
    A couple of mornings later I was summoned upstairs to the Director's office high up in the Grosvenor Street building, to discuss things.
    Charlotte Bundy and Henry Clyde - known secretly with some humour within the confines of the staff rooms, as Bonnie and Clyde , sat on the far side of a large shiny regency table. Charlotte, the daughter of the late