“Would you like some cream on your pudding?” Mr Eccles asked.

“Just a little, please,” Ella replied. It was a treat to be taken out for lunch, and even more to have a pudding with cream; her mother would sometimes make custard, but more often she had to be happy with a splash of milk.

Mr Eccles poured a small amount of the cream into Ella’s dish and then took the rest for himself. Of course, he was paying and so entitled to have what he wanted, but Ella did feel he could have offered her just a bit more.