In this Month there are many Delicacies about a Country Seat; all kinds of Pond-Fish are good, there is plenty of Poultry of all kinds, wild and tame, except the Water-Fowl, which should yet remain untouch’d. Turkey Poults, Pheasant Poults, Partridges, and some sort of Pigeons, are good; but for the most part the Dove-cote Pigeons are distemper’d, and are now full of Knots in their Skins, and unwholesome. The Eggs of Fowls likewise at this Season, as well as in the former Month, are unhealthful.

About the end of this Month, you have Hares and Rabbets full grown in common Warrens, and young wild Ducks; and those who live near the Sea, have plenty of Oysters, and in great perfection, much better, in my opinion, than in the Winter. Hares are also now good, and Buck Venison is still good. Turnips, Carrots, Cabbages, Caulyflowers, Artichokes, Melons, Cucumbers, and such like, are in prime; Sallary and Endive, Nasturtium Indicum, Flowers, Cabbage Lettice, and blanch’d sweet Fennel is now good for Sallads. Peas and Beans, and Kidney-beans, are likewise to be met with, so that a Country Gentleman and Farmer may have every thing at home, and let out a Table fit for a Prince, without being beholden to the Markets; and the great variety of Fruits which this Season produces, renders it still more delightful and profitable.

     Red-and black-currants are ripe, and where there are plenty of them, we may make a pleasant Wine with them. Elderberries are ripe and fit for making of Wine, as well the white as the red sort: these are both very good, if they are rightly managed. The following drinks very much like the French Wine call’d Hermitage, and is full as strong.

They read on, through a list of cooked wild birds—which included sparrow, as well as the usual grouse, goose, and pheasant.

“This must have been written before the Game Act.” Mrs. Quince tutted. “These days you can’t shoot game birds at this time of year, when they’re feeding their young ones. It drives down the stocks. But it’s a pity you can’t use a nice pheasant in your contest. Game is off the rations and nothing would impress Ambrose Hart like a perfectly roasted breast.”

Nell continued to read. All kinds of salads and vegetables were described, including artichokes and “sallary,” which they decided must be celery. The recipes were different from the usual, modern ones, with varying combinations of different flavorings.

With sudden inspiration, Nell leaped up to see if she could find some of the herbs in the pantry or one of the kitchen storerooms.

“It’s like a cooking treasure hunt!” she cried.

Inside the pantry, she pulled up a stool to stand on, holding up her torch to look on the upper shelves. There, almost hidden at the very back, were a number of bottles and jars, all different sizes, some gold and green, or even rose pink.

One by one, she took them out and examined them.

They were all there: aniseed, caraway, mace, sorrel, and savory. Something called Jamaican pepper smelled like it was a type of allspice, and there was even one with a bright yellow powder, turmeric.

“What an interesting sauce this recipe would make!” Mrs. Quince said, standing at the door with the book. She began to read out the ingredients, “anise seed, nutmeg, and cloves.”

    Nell duly found them and took them down.

The next ingredient was elderberry wine. “There are elder trees in the woods,” Mrs. Quince mused, and she read out the old-fashioned recipe.

Receipt to make Elderberry Wine

To every Quart of Water put a Pound and half of Elderberries, that are not over-ripe, let them be wiped clean; boil these till the Liquor is strong of the Elderberry Flavour; then strain the Liquor thro’ a Sieve, and put to every Quart four or five Ounces of white Sugar, boil it again, and scum it as it rises, and when the Scum rises no more, pour it into an Earthen Pot; the Day following bottle it, putting into every Bottle a lump of Loaf-Sugar, as big as a Nutmeg. This will presently be fit for drinking, is a very pleasant Liquor; but will not keep long.

But the next ingredient made her pause for thought.

“Two legs of hare.” Mrs. Quince leaned against the doorframe. “Of course, that would go splendidly with the elderberries as it’s such a dark, flavorful meat. The berries would add a sweetness to it, which is where the cloves and nutmeg come in.”

Nell frowned. “But where would we get a hare at this late notice?”

“The farm manager sometimes has game down in Fenley Farm. He might know where to find a hare. Why don’t you pop down there in the morning, after you’ve cleared up the breakfast things?”

“Oh, could I, Mrs. Quince? It would go perfectly with the elderberries.” Nell imagined the intense, deep flavors combining around her tongue. “I’ll make it so ingenious we’re bound to win.” She got a notebook to make a list of ingredients, but as she did, the sound of the air-raid siren whirred up.

“Not Wailing Willie again,” Mrs. Quince muttered, carefully closing her recipe book and tucking it into the dresser drawer to keep it safe.

    Nell had to get upstairs to help the family down to the cellar. Lady Gwendoline always wanted to bring half of her belongings, and Nell would stagger down the stairs after her trying not to drop anything.

As Nell ran up and down the stairs, conveying blankets, books, and the inevitable chamber pots that would have to be emptied in the morning—earlier if it was something smelly—her heart pined for escape. Now that the contest had opened a crack of opportunity in her heart, a mountain of long-held grievances tumbled into her mind like a chaotic avalanche of suffering.

When would she be free?

After they were settled in the cellar, Lady Gwendoline sent Nell back upstairs to make a round of potted shrimp sandwiches “in case anyone gets peckish,” and as she dashed around the kitchen, the growing drone of low-flying planes began.

The blackout curtains were up, but she opened the back door a fraction and slipped outside into the warm night to take a look.

The noise of the engines was deafening, the antiaircraft guns from a nearby artillery unit joining in with a thunderous ack-ack sound. The bombers were trying to find the air base at Biggin Hill, and they released flares to find their target, lighting up the horizon. Meanwhile the British searchlights beamed across the skies. Both the antiaircraft guns and the searchlights were manned by young women just like Nell. Maids, shopgirls, and hairdressers putting themselves in the line of fire, fighting for their country.

All at once, first one and then more planes zoomed in low overhead, making Nell duck back into the doorframe. Against the gray-white sky ahead, she saw the bombs falling, holding her breath before the explosions sounded in the distance, horrific and terrifying.

And yet, deep inside her, something yearned to be out there facing the danger, free from the Stricklands and their frivolous demands, free of the servitude and toil.

Free to truly live.

Nell’s Seared Hare with Elderberry

Wine Sauce

Serves 2

1 cup elderberry wine, using ? pound elderberries and 1 tablespoon sugar 1 tablespoon oil or butter 2 legs of hare (pheasant or duck breast could also be used) 1 teaspoon flour, to thicken 1 teaspoon crushed aniseed 1 teaspoon grated nutmeg 1 teaspoon crushed cloves Salt and pepper

Caramelized elderberries, using 1 cup elderberries and 1 tablespoon each water and sugar

First of all, make the elderberry wine. Put the elderberries into a saucepan with water to just cover. Boil until the berries are soft and mushy, 20 to 30 minutes. Sieve, pushing through as much of the cooked flesh as possible. Add the sugar and bring back to a boil, then pour into a sealable jar or bottle. It is good for drinking and cooking, but it won’t last longer than a week or two.

Heat a pan with oil or butter and sear the legs of hare so that they are crisp and browned on the outside and only just fully cooked on the inside. With a sharp carving knife, slice them and fan the meat out on a plate.

Quickly, with the meat juices in the pan, make the sauce. Sprinkle the flour and stir in briskly. Little by little add the elderberry wine and then heat until it thickens. Add the aniseed, nutmeg, and cloves, as well as some salt and pepper. Cook for a few minutes, then pour to the side of the meat.

Garnish with elderberries caramelized in a small pan with a little water and sugar.

Zelda

It hadn’t occurred to Zelda that her new landlady might be known to her, and as she knocked absently on the front door, she noted the variety of herbs and vegetables growing in the front garden. Whoever these people were, they certainly knew their food.

Most people had turned their gardens into vegetables plots; and parks and football pitches were now given to food production. The moat around the Tower of London had even been drained so that the land could be used to grow potatoes and cabbages to feed London’s overcrowded—and now over-bombed—East End.

After calling through the letterbox, Zelda strode around to the side gate to see if there was anyone in the back. There she saw a woman crouching over a row of vegetables, surrounded by boys.

But it wasn’t until Zelda looked more closely that the penny dropped.