Life which had gone on in the same pattern since the birth of Katie was filled with events.

In the first place we had to see the lawyers about the settlement and to our satisfaction learned that it would be quite in order for me to invest it in a business. That was the first step. Charles conveniently and characteristically left the very day of our encounter in the forest. I think he might have been ashamed. I was glad of it. I did not know how I could have confronted him; and the thought that I was living in his house was irksome.

First we had to find premises. We had decided that we would say nothing to Lady Sallonger until this was done, for we should certainly have opposition from that quarter.

Grand'mere and I went up to London leaving Cassie in charge of Katie. She was quite capable and was given instructions to get into touch with me at Cherry's Hotel, where we were staying for two nights, if I should be needed.

We found the shop, just off Bond Street. It was smaller than we had visualized, but there was a sizeable room which would be suitable as a workroom, and a showroom. Moreover there was small but adequate living accommodation. The rent to us seemed exhorbitant, but after looking around we realized that we should have to pay highly for accommodation if we wanted it in fashionable London, which according to Grand'mere-and I agreed with her-was of vital importance.

So we had our premises. We bought some materials but Grand'mere had numerous remnants, left over from the bales which had always been regarded as her perquisites. She had been hoarding them for years with such a venture in mind. So we had some stock to start with.

We returned to The Silk House where Cassie was eagerly waiting to hear the result of our visit. Katie had behaved impeccably and there were no problems there. So we seemed set fair.

The next afternoon I decided to tell Lady Sallonger. Cassie was with me.

I said: "Lady Sallonger, I have some news. Grand'mere and I are going to set up in a shop.''

"What?" she screamed.

I explained.

"How ridiculous!" she snapped. "Ladies don't set up in shops."

"But I always fancied you doubted my claim to that title," I said.

''You had better put such a notion out of your mind at once.''

"We already have our premises."

She was really disturbed. It was somewhat gratifying to realize how very much she hated losing me. But, of course, there was nothing personal about that. It was only because of my usefulness.

Her first thought when she realized that we were in earnest was: "But what am I going to do?"

Grand'mere had had to give notice to the Sallongers since she would no longer be working for them. This caused a great deal of consternation. She received a letter from one of the directors asking her if she had really considered what this meant. They had taken her for granted for so long. The very fact that her home was at The Silk House had made them absolutely sure of her services. She had clearly been of great use to them; and they tried to persuade her to think again.

But we were determined. Charles had made it impossible for us to stay; and we both knew that this was what we wanted. There was so much to remind me of Philip in The Silk House and the best thing possible was for rne to make a clean break.

Exciting times followed. There was settling into the new quarters with the rather small living rooms and the big workroom and salon. Cassie had wept and pleaded with her mother, but Lady Sallonger was adamant. Cassie must stay. If Grand'mere and I were going to be so ungrateful as to walk out after all she had done for us, at least her own daughter should not be permitted to do so.

So we had to say goodbye to a woebegone Cassie and to promise her mat whenever she wanted to come to us she would be welcome.

Grand'mere was like a young woman. "This was always a dream of mine," she said. "I never thought I should be able to realize it."

Looking back I see how naive we were. Grand'mere had made dresses in the past which had sold in Court circles; but they had had the Sallonger label attached to them. It was different without that name. She had wanted to call the shop Lenore's. "It is yours,'' she said. "It is for your future.'' But Lenore's was not Sallonger's.

We had the dresses but business was slow in coming.

We had one servant-a thin little Cockney girl called Maisie. She was eager and helpful and very fond of Katie; she was willing to work hard, but we needed more help.

I think that within six months we had begun to realize that we had taken on something which we were too inexperienced to handle. Grand'mere tried to be bright and optimistic but I could see she was worried.

One day she said to me: "Lenore, I think we ought to look into our finances."

I knew what she meant and I agreed.

We faced each other seriously. We had spent a great deal of the capital; and we were paying out more than we were taking in. "Perhaps," I said, "we are pricing our dresses too low."

"If we priced higher, should we sell?" asked Grand'mere. "We have to face it. Here we are in a fashionable part of London but we are not getting the high class clientele who used to buy the dresses I made. Perhaps we should try something simpler. ..."

I could see that we had rushed into this without enough thought. Grand'mere could make the dresses but we needed an assistant. I had to look after Katie with Maisie's help. We had taken on more than we were able to manage. There were so many aspects which we had not considered and most devastating of all was the contemplation of our fast-dwindling capital.

"We can't go on until everything has been frittered away," said Grand'mere.

"What do you think we should do?"

"We will not go back to The Silk House."

"Never," I said vehemently.

"Perhaps I could ask Sallongers if I could work here for them as I used to at The Silk House."

''In these expensive premises."

"Perhaps we could find a little house somewhere . . . perhaps with a small workroom."

It was depressing and grew more so until one day we had a visitor ... I went forward hoping for a customer and to my amazement saw the Countess of Ballader.

She embraced me warmly.

"It is good to see you," I said.

She waved her hands. "All this ..." she said. "I saw the name Lenore's . . . and I'd heard through Julia that you'd gone off to work on your own. So this is it, eh?"

"Do come in. Grand'mere will be pleased to see you."

They greeted each other effusively and I asked what the Countess was doing now.

"I have a beauty this time," she explained. "Daughter of a multi-millionaire. She has everything . . . face, figure . . . money ... but alas no blue blood. It's my job to see that she gets it. I have an earl in mind but actually I'm looking for a duke."

She talked for a while and told us how weary she was of the social round and this profession of hers.

Then she looked at us sharply. "Not going well, is it?" she said.

Grand'mere and I exchanged glances. "No," I told her. "It is not."

"I'm not surprised," she said.

"But the clothes . . . they are just the same . . . just as good . . ."

"It's not the quality, my dear, that sells them. It's the aura. That's what you lack. You'll never make good this way, you know."

I think we must have looked as frightened as we felt for she went on: "Oh, cheer up. It's not the end of the world. All you have to do is go about it in the right way."

"We feel just hopeless at selling."

She looked round the place with something akin to distaste.

Then she said: "Listen. If you're going to get on in the business world, you have to know people. They can't make up their minds themselves. They have to be told. This is good. This is special. Tell them enough and in the right way and they'll believe it. Your dresses were a success at Sallonger's, weren't they? Every girl going to Court had to have her Sallon Silk dress."

"We have Sallon Silk here but nobody wants it. Grand'mere has made some beautiful dresses. They are still hanging here."

The Countess looked at us benignly. "I think," she said slowly, "that I can help you out of your troubles. Let me see what you have here."

We took her round and she examined our stock with care. "I see," she said. "Tomorrow I am bringing Debbie to see you."

"Debbie?"

"My protegee. She is a charming creature. You will love her. She is one of my best ever. A little aristocratic blood and she would have been perfect. But you can't have everything."

"Do you think she would buy one of our dresses?"

She smiled at us. "I think that is very likely. Leave this to me. I think things are going to change. You have one or two here which would fit her. We will see what can be done."

The next day, true to her promise, the Countess arrived with her protegee.

She was right. Debbie was beautiful. She had large greenish eyes with heavy dark lashes and dark brown curly hair; but it was her expression which was most appealing; there was a delightful innocence about her.

They arrived in a carriage with a resplendent coachman and a little page at the back to leap down and open doors.

The Countess could be very regal on occasions and this was one of them.

"This is Miss Deborah Mellor," she said; "Deborah, Madame Lenore and Madame Cleremont."

Deborah bowed her head charmingly.

"I have persuaded Madame Lenore to make your ball gown if she can fit it in."

"That is very kind of you," said Deborah.

''But first we are going to look round and see if there is some little thing we fancy."

"I should love that."

"As you know, Madame Lenore, Madame Cleremont, and I are old friends. That is why they have agreed to give you special attention."

I wanted to laugh but the Countess was very serious.

''I wonder if you would be kind enough to show us one or two of your models," went on the Countess.

"With pleasure," I said. "Do come along, Miss Mellor."

"Oh, look at this!" cried the Countess. "I have not seen ruching done in this way before, have you, Deborah?"

"No, Countess, never."

"It would be most effective. We must try that one on. And the rose pink one, too."

What a morning that was! I shall never forget it. It was the beginning of a change in our fortunes; and we owed it all to the Countess. Deborah Mellor bought the two dresses and we had a commission to make her dress for a very special Court ball.

Of course, this was child's play for Grand'mere who had done similar things before and she was in her element.

Later that day the Countess called on us. She had brought with her a bottle of champagne.

"Fetch glasses," she commanded. "We're celebrating. This is the start. Oh, you innocents! I am going to turn you into wily business women. Debbie is delighted. She is so grateful to me for bringing her to you. She says your clothes are ravishing. I explained the smallness of your premises as being due to your insistence on exclusiveness. You only make for the very best . . . the top people. You would not look at anyone else. She will see that the word is spread. Now, my dears, you will have to be ready. You need assistance. You must find an expert seamstress-two I think-There are thousands of them in London looking for work. Debbie will talk about you. So shall I. And I shall bring people to you as a special favour to them."

"I can't believe it is as easy as that," said Grand'mere.

"Everything is easy when you know the way. Look round you. Things are good mainly because people believe them to be good. Mind you, you have to have something to build on. You can't do it on rubbish. But if you have two articles of equal value side by side, and ask for an opinion you will find the one which has the right aura-though in all other ways it is exactly the same as the other-will be acclaimed, and that without, ignored. It is the world all over. People have to be told that something is good . . . and if it is good, they will agree. But don't tell them and they will think nothing of it. Lenore's models are good ... so we are off to an excellent start. We are going to make Lenore's the most sought-after dressmaker in London."

We could not help laughing and our spirits rose when we considered the sales she had brought us, though we did not, at this stage, entirely believe her.

But how right she was proved to be.

The ball gown was a startling success; the duke proposed. "It was a lucky dress," said Deborah.

"She looked ravishing," said the Countess afterwards. "Everyone wanted to know who her dressmaker was. I said, T am not telling ... we don't want to share her.' But, of course, I let it slip. People are asking me for introductions."

"It seems incongruous," I said. "There we were begging for business and now they are begging us."

"It's the way of the world," said the Countess.

And from that time we began to prosper. We were able to engage new seamstresses. We took the premises next door which gave us better living accommodation. The label Lenore on a garment meant high fashion.

We made Deborah's wedding dress. She looked very beautiful and fervently we wished her happiness with her duke. She had been our saviour. No. That was the Countess; and during that year she continued to bring clients to us.

One day she called and said: "I had a nice present from Mellor pere for getting his daughter satisfactorily settled and I have never been very attracted by my way of earning a living. I rather fancy myself selling ... in a place like this."

"Do you want to come in with us?" I cried.

"Well, what do you think?"

"We can never be grateful enough to you, can we, Grand'mere?" I said; and Grand'mere agreed with me.

"I'd put the Mellor present into the business. Then I can be a partner. It will give you more time with Katie."

So the Countess joined us.

Soon after that Lady Sallonger died. She passed quietly away in her sleep. I felt saddened, for in spite of her demands I had been quite fond of her. Grand'mere and I went to The Silk House for the funeral.