The various organisations she contacted were of little or no help; the advertisement she inserted in the newspaper did not bring the results which she had optimistically expected. She scanned the local papers and the nationals, and now, with only two days of her holiday left, she opened the Times with a dejected sigh, convinced there would be nothing to interest her. But she was mistaken, and her eyes kindled with eagerness as she read the rather stiff and formal advertisement which must have been inserted at great cost, being a ‘window’ measuring three inches square. ‘You’ve found something?’ Ellie, who had been off work with a severe cold, was sitting by the fire, a book on her lap. ‘If your expression’s anything to go by, then you’ve seen something promising at last.’ Hydee nodded quickly and passed the newspaper to her friend, watching Ellie’s expression change as she read and reread the ad, silently at first and then aloud. ‘“Refined and cultured English lady required to take full charge of two children, a boy of seven and a girl of five.
