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feel herself becoming self-conscious. Jim was so handsome. When they were at school, all the girls liked him. Of course he was a couple of years above her year, and he’d never even looked at her. His name had been linked to Martha Greenway, and there was talk that perhaps they might marry.
    The silence between them was becoming so awkward that Ruby felt the need to say something. ‘I heard that you’re working at Warwick Studios,’ she said. ‘How are you getting on with your photography?’
    ‘I’m really enjoying it,’ he said, his enthusiasm shining through. ‘I’m learning all about the business, and I’m being stretched all the time.’
    ‘So what comes next? Have you got any ambitions?’
    ‘Not sure,’ he said. ‘I’d rather like to be a newspaper photographer. There’s always good money to be made for on-the-spot pictures.’
    ‘So you’re driven by money,’ she teased.
    ‘Absolutely not,’ said Jim, suddenly serious. ‘I just want to be at the forefront of what’s going on.’
    ‘I’m sorry,’ said Ruby, blushing. ‘That must have sounded rather rude. I didn’t mean it to. No offence.’
    ‘None taken,’ Jim smiled. ‘What about you? I heard that you went to work in Warnes Hotel. What’s it like?’
    ‘Very strict,’ said Ruby, ‘but I know I’m getting a good training and, if I ever wanted a reference, there’s none better than a good one from Warnes.’
    ‘And do you have ambitions?’
    ‘Well, that’s a first,’ Ruby chuckled, ‘someone asking me if I have ambitions.’
    ‘Why not?’ said Jim.
    ‘I know what I’ve got to do and what’s expected of me, but I’ve never even dared to think what I’d like to do,’ said Ruby.
    ‘Now’s your chance,’ Jim smiled. ‘What do you enjoy?’
    ‘Being with people, I suppose,’ she said. ‘I’m not supposed to talk to them, but I enjoy hearing what the guests have been up to. You meet such interesting people.’
    ‘Would you like to travel?’
    ‘That’s hardly likely to happen to someone like me,’ said Ruby wistfully.
    ‘But if you could …?’
    ‘I’d like to speak another language,’ she said, her eyes bright with excitement. ‘I love it when the foreign guests talk to each other. I try to imagine what they are saying.’
    ‘Who is this beautiful chambermaid?’ said Jim, making his voice sound like a foreigner speaking bad English.
    ‘Oh, I’m sure they’d never say that,’ Ruby laughed.
    ‘Have you ever thought of trying the WEA?’ he asked.
    ‘Whatever’s that?’ cried Ruby.
    ‘The Workers’ Educational Association,’ said Jim. ‘They do classes for working-class people.’ He paused. ‘They’re not very expensive.’
    Ruby pulled the corners of her mouth down and shook her head. ‘Never heard of them.’
    There was a short pause and then he said, ‘You know, I think every one of us gets at least one chance in life to change direction. It happened, for me, when I was watching Mr Hayward taking some pictures of the pier.’
    ‘I remember Percy telling me the story,’ Ruby smiled. ‘He asked you if you wanted to look into the viewfinder.’
    Jim nodded. ‘I was fascinated right from the word go. I was just a kid, but Mr Hayward told me if I still felt the same about photography when I left school, I should come to his studios.’
    ‘And you did?’ said Ruby.
    ‘I nearly didn’t,’ said Jim. ‘The people in the Home wanted me to be a nurseryman. They even had a job lined up for me, in the glasshouses along the Littlehampton Road.’
    ‘Yes, of course,’ said Ruby. For a moment she had quite forgotten that Jim was an orphan and was brought up in a children’s home. ‘I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to remind you.’
    ‘Don’t be,’ said Jim. ‘It’s life.’
    ‘Were they upset that you didn’t want to work in the glasshouses?’
    ‘For a while,’ said Jim, ‘but then they could see that a love of the camera was in my blood.’
    ‘Making choices is fine for a boy,’