Dulcie wasn’t what you would call a snob. It was true that she’d been raised in a rather well-to-do family. They even had a maid, which could perhaps be considered as fairly rare. And she had manners that were both polite and right.
But Dulcie was not a snob. She was ordinary, but grateful for having been given the nicer things of life.
When she married, it was to a sheep farmer, Edwin. They had a large farm, and it made Dulcie and Edwin a pretty penny. It was more of an estate than a farm; more of a manor than a house. They had five kids. Edwin had served in the First World War and had a bit of a bung knee. He was in and out of hospital.
Then came the Great Depression. They lost the farm. They moved into town. Edwin worked as a brick layer. But soon his knee got the better of him. He went to hospital, got some strain of Staphylococcus aureus, and died. Dulcie was left jobless and penniless, and with five children.
She had no training in anything. Fortunately, she was enterprising and not a snob. She “took in boarders”. At least, that’s the phrase she used in front of the children.