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Published by HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd
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First published in Great Britain by HarperCollinsPublishers 2018
Copyright © Barbara Taylor Bradford 2018
Cover design © HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd 2018 Cover photographs © Elizabeth Ansley/Trevillion Images (woman), Shutterstock.com (gate and leaves on back cover) and Ivan Vdovin/Getty Images (house back cover)
Barbara Taylor Bradford asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.
A catalogue copy of this book is available from the British Library.
This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.
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Source ISBN: 9780007503353
Ebook Edition © November 2017 ISBN: 9780007503377
Version: 2018-07-06
For Bob, with all my love always
Contents
Copyright
Dedication
Characters
PART ONE
A Rip in the Fabric 1949
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
PART THREE Magic and Make-Believe
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
PART FOUR Stepping into Reality
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Chapter Thirty
Chapter Thirty-One
Chapter Thirty-Two
Chapter Thirty-Three
PART FIVE Different Perceptions 1950
Chapter Thirty-Four
Chapter Thirty-Five
Chapter Thirty-Six
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Chapter Thirty-Nine
Chapter Forty
Chapter Forty-One
Chapter Forty-Two
Chapter Forty-Three
Chapter Forty-Four
Acknowledgements
Books by Barbara Taylor Bradford
About the Publisher
ABOVE THE STAIRS
THE INGHAMS IN 1949
Miles Ingham, 7th Earl of Mowbray, aged 50. Owner and custodian of Cavendon Hall. Referred to as Lord Mowbray. He is married to Cecily Swann, 48, who is the 7th Countess of Mowbray.
THE CHILDREN OF THE EARL AND COUNTESS
David Ingham, heir to the earldom, aged 20. He is known as the Honourable David Ingham. Walter, 18; Venetia, 16; and Gwen, 8.
Lady Diedre Ingham Lawson, sister of the Earl, aged 56. She is married to William Lawson, 56, and lives in London with him and her son, Robin Drummond, 22. She works at the War Office. They come to Cavendon at weekends where they have their own house, Little Skell Manor.
Lady Daphne Ingham, sister of the Earl, aged 53. She remains married to Hugo Ingham Stanton, 68. They live permanently at Cavendon Hall, in the South Wing. They have five children who live