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dare light another one for fear of being accused of extravagance. Nell kept a strict eye on the housekeeping and she frowned upon waste of any kind. It was almost pitch dark in the hall, but Lily could have found her way blindfold.
    A cloud of steam erupted from the kitchen as she opened the door. Pans of water were heating on the top of the range and a fierce argument was going on as Molly and Mark fought over a kettle filled with hot water. Lily was faced with the sight of Aggie brandishing the rolling pin and threatening to knock their silly heads together if they didn’t stop behaving like a pair of five-year-olds. Luke had stripped to the waist and was standing in front of the range, drying himself with a scrap of towelling, although it did little to remove the streaks of soot from his torso. His lips weremoving silently, which made Lily smile. She knew that he was reciting a piece of poetry as he always did when family squabbles became too much for him and he needed to retire into his own private world. He was no coward, but he would back away from a fight unless it was the last resort. Luke was the peacemaker in the family, Mark the joker and Matt the undisputed leader. Her brothers were so different in their characters that sometimes it seemed hard to believe that they were so closely related.
    ‘You are no gentleman, Mark,’ Molly shrieked as he won the tussle for the kettle and carried his trophy into the scullery.
    ‘And you ain’t a lady,’ Mark called over his shoulder. ‘You use language that would make a sailor blush.’
    Scarlet-cheeked and patently seething, Molly went to stand by the scullery door, leaning against the jamb with her arms folded across her chest. ‘Well, if I do, it’s because I learnt it from my brothers.’
    ‘That’s enough, the pair of you,’ Aggie cried angrily. ‘If I hear another word from either of you, you’ll go and wash in the back yard. I won’t have such behaviour in my kitchen.’ She turned on Luke, who had begun to recite his poem out loud. ‘And you can stop your drivelling, young man. You fill your head with them heathen words when you could be learning the psalms or reading the Gospels. Your pa named you after the apostles, but he couldn’t have foreseen how you would all turn out.’
    Lily hurried over to rescue the pan of stew that threatened to boil over. ‘Don’t you think it’s time wehad supper, Aggie? The boys have been working hard and they must be starving.’
    Aggie shrugged her shoulders, bristling like a small, fat hedgehog. ‘I won’t stand for childish bickering in my kitchen.’
    ‘Of course not,’ Lily said gently. ‘And I’m sure Molly and Mark will apologise for their bad behaviour.’
    ‘Blame it on the fog,’ Luke said dreamily, picking up his damp shirt and putting it on. ‘Everyone goes a little mad in a London particular.’
    Aggie cast her eyes up to the ceiling. ‘What a lot of nonsense you talk, Luke. Make yourself useful and set the table. And move away from my range, I want to get the bread out of the oven. Lily, go and fetch your grandpa.’
    Obediently, Lily went to the door, but she hesitated. ‘What about Matt and Nell?’
    ‘They’ll come when they’re ready. I just hope that greedy gannet of a doctor doesn’t think he’s going to get fed as well as drinking our brandy. There’s not enough to go round for him as well.’
    Half an hour later the family were seated around the kitchen table having finished their meal of vegetable stew and bread hot from the oven. Dr Macpherson had reluctantly gone on his way, but it had taken all Lily’s tact and diplomacy to persuade him to leave before they sat down to supper. He had sniffed the air like a hungry hound and praised Aggie’s cooking, adding wistfully that his housekeeper was sadly lacking in the culinary art. In desperation, Lily had given him what was left of the brandy, assuring him that it would keepout the cold. It was a small price to pay, Matt had