‘I’m sorry,’ whispered Hannah. She knew that she was sure to be dismissed this time.

‘Did you write it?’

‘No!’ Hannah was taken by surprise at the question.

‘Then who?’ She looked at Mrs Feilden’s face and then back at the carpet she’d brushed earlier that morning. ‘Who wrote it for you?’

Hannah couldn’t bring herself to tell the truth. She didn’t want to get Titus into trouble. She knew that the Feildens thought well of him.

‘I thought it was from Mr Sudell,’ she lied.

‘Did he give it to you?’

‘Not personally, no. But I was led to believe that he’d left it for me.’

‘And did you not think it was strange that there was a character for you but not one for the other staff?’

‘I don’t know anything about that, Mrs Feilden.’ With every word Hannah knew that she was digging herself in deeper, but having begun with a lie it was too late to backtrack now.

‘Were you given it at Mr Sudell’s house?’

‘No. It was given to me later.’

‘Who gave it to you?’

‘I don’t quite remember …’ She floundered in her attempt to cover up the truth. She wondered whether to admit that Titus had written it. But what purpose would it serve? She was bound to be dismissed anyway.

‘This is so disappointing, Hannah,’ said Mrs Feilden, ‘especially after the other trouble – and it’s because of that I’m not entirely convinced that this letter isn’t just another example of your fiction. Are you sure you didn’t write it yourself?’

Hannah looked her in the eye and told the truth. ‘I didn’t write it. I’ll write summat now and you can compare my hand,’ she offered.

‘There wouldn’t be any point,’ said Mrs Feilden. ‘We both know it isn’t from Mr Sudell and that means that you came to us without a genuine character reference.’ She folded the letter and pushed it away from her before looking at Hannah again. ‘It is a pity because your work is good and I might have been able to overlook you not having a character if I thought you were being entirely honest with me, but I don’t think you are, Hannah. If you didn’t write it then someone else must have written it for you, and whilst I admire your loyalty in not naming them, the fact remains that it is a forgery and you are party to that forgery. And that’s a serious offence.’ Hannah’s heart began to beat faster. Surely the woman wasn’t thinking of sending her up before the magistrate? ‘Added to that other matter, I really don’t think I can keep you in our employment,’ she finished.

‘I were guilty of nothing!’ protested Hannah. ‘The book had been lent to the schoolmaster.’

‘Yes, I know. But the writing I found in your room was not something I wanted in my house.’

‘But it weren’t against the law!’

‘True. But I have certain standards and I expect them to be upheld in my house by those who are in my employment.’