The rose

the long version

Maid-of-all-work Alice Finlay is 17 when her employer dies and, seeking advice about her future, Alice goes to see Miss Lennox, her teacher at the orphanage, her former home. Alice has a talent for drawing and Miss Lennox finds her a position with Simpsons, where she is taught the art of decorating pottery. As she learns her craft, Alice becomes involved in the lives of her friends at work, and even has her own romance, but she is determined to be a 'proper artist' - a dream which is realised in the sale of her first picture, a Scottish rose.