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bathroom’s just down the hall. My mother has her own bathroom, and the rest of us share this one.’
    ‘Just show me where it is. This house is so big, I’m sure to get lost.’
    ‘Oh, OK.’ Felicity led the way down the passage. ‘It’s in here. Don’t use the shower; it doesn’t work. And the bath is always cold because there’s never enough hot water to heat it through. I usually fill a bucket with hot water, wash with it standing in the bath, and then sluice myself off with the plastic jug. My mother’s bathroom has its own immersion heater.’
    ‘Oh. Right, fine,’ said Jenny, vowing to get her work done as quickly as possible. While everyone, Henry in particular, had warned her that Scotland was a lot colder than England, no one had mentioned this applied to the water as well.
    ‘So I’ll see you downstairs in the drawing room at seven, then?’
    ‘If I manage to find it, yes.’
    Jenny went back downstairs to bring up the rest of her bags and her laptop. It wasn’t that she necessarily expected anyone else to carry them, but it would have been friendly for Felicity to have taken something, if only the carrier bag containing chocolates and a plant, gifts for her hostess.
    Once in her bedroom, she plugged in her laptop. Shewas reluctant to unpack. It was as if she thought the clothes in her suitcase would take on the cold of the room the moment she took them out. Besides, she couldn’t think of anything she’d packed that would be warmer than her trouser suit. However, Felicity hadn’t mentioned changing for dinner, but Lady Dalmain sounded like the sort of woman who would, and as Jenny had been wearing the same clothes for a long time, she did want to put on something else.
    Reluctant to get out of her clothes until she’d sorted out a substitute, Jenny logged on to her email. She didn’t read any of the ones awaiting her attention – from other, less demanding clients than the one who had sent her here – she just dashed off a quick one to her mother.
    Dearest Mum, well, I’ve arrived, and as you predicted, it’s freezing here. You were right about the thermals, I definitely need them. And to save me spending hours on the Internet ordering some, could you be a darling and send me some? Vests, petticoats, nighties, in fact, to save time, you could just get the whole contents of the Damart catalogue sent to me. Don’t, for God’s sake, tell Henry, he’ll laugh. Oh, and an electric blanket. With luck, I might be able to scrounge a hot water bottle until then. The scenery’s pretty, though. But the family seem to be mad as cats. Haven’t met the mother yet. She sounds the worst of the lot. Why did I agree to come here? No need to answer that! Your loving daughter, Jenny.
    While she was logged on she thought she might as well confirm her arrival to her client. She typed,
    Uneventful journey, arrived safely. Haven’t met the family yet. Will report again shortly. Yours, G. Porter.
    She didn’t email Henry. She wanted to wait until she had some positive news. Anything she said now would just make him say something scathing, disguised as sympathy – ‘A bit out of your depth, sweetie? I did warn you …’ She was going to show Henry a thing or two.
    At seven she made her way down the stairs. In winter it’s perfectly acceptable to look as if you’ve wrapped up warm. In October, it somehow appears rude to be wearing every stitch you’ve brought with you. On the other hand, so was letting your teeth chatter while you tried to make small talk with your hostess. Besides, Jenny hadn’t brought any winter clothes as such and had had to improvise.
    She had on two pairs of tights, a slip, the skirt that went with the jacket of her trouser suit, and a clean cotton shirt over the silk one that had got spattered with grease. On top of this she put her only cardigan, a fine lambswool one, and then her jacket. She did feel a little like a sausage in a skin, but it was preferable to openly shivering.