"Uncertain, more than frightened," Rosie says, after giving his question the serious consideration it deserved. "I'd wanted to be out of the Home, and back in Oxford I'd been helping Mummy with enough things for so long--chores and errands and keeping an eye on the grocery money each week, things like that--that I knew I could live on my own well enough. But it does feel different now, actually doing it rather than just thinking about it."

She frowns slightly, the answer sounding not quite as satisfyingly reassuring--for either of them--as she'd hoped it might be. "But I'm glad to have done it. To be doing it, I suppose I've really only just started." Rosie looks towards the stack of furniture boxes in the living room and laughs. "And what a start it's been."