‘It’s true,’ she said, avoiding his glance.

‘What for?’ he asked. ‘Did Mrs Feilden catch you writing again?’

‘No. It were more serious than that.’

‘More serious? What happened?’ he asked. And as they walked she related the tale of the letter that Titus had written for her. He said nothing all the time she spun the sorry tale and even when she’d finished he stayed silent. Hannah was afraid. She thought that at any moment he would pull away from the hand she had tucked inside his elbow and march off without a word or a backwards glance.

‘I never told them it was Titus that wrote it, and tha mustn’t breathe a word,’ she warned him, suddenly afraid that he might reveal the truth and the magistrate might send someone to arrest her brother-in-law. ‘I don’t want him to get into trouble. I don’t think our Jennet would manage if he were sent back to prison.’

‘I never had Titus Eastwood down as dishonest,’ said James. ‘I’m surprised at him.’

‘He thought he were doing me a good turn,’ she said, wondering why she felt compelled to defend him. ‘I’d never have got the job otherwise.’

‘But it was dishonest,’ he said. ‘And it’s a serious thing to do – to forge another man’s name.’

‘I know. That’s why I don’t want to get him into trouble.’

‘But what about you?’ he asked.

‘I doubt they’ll send the magistrate after me. They dismissed me and that’s probably the end of it.’

‘Even so,’ he said. ‘I hope you’d tell the truth if it came to it. What made you agree to do it in the first place? You must have known it was wrong!’

‘I know. But he left me with no choice. He wanted me to have a job so as I wouldn’t be a burden to them.’

‘We always have a choice, Hannah,’ James told her and she could hear the tone of the schoolmaster in his voice. This must be how he spoke to his pupils when they’d transgressed, she thought. She was sorry that he seemed angry with her, even though she’d explained it as best she could. He really didn’t understand what Titus was like when his mind was set on something.

‘Well, I could have chosen to go with Mary,’ she told James. ‘Maybe that Mr Starkie would have bought me some fancy frocks as well, in exchange for favours.’

‘I’m sorry,’ he said. ‘I didn’t mean to be harsh. I thought Mrs Feilden had dismissed you over the writing and I was going to offer to go and speak to her about it. But now …’ He was quiet for a few more minutes. ‘I can’t fault the Feildens for dismissing you over this,’ he said at last. ‘I don’t think there’s anything I can do to help.’

‘Well, I never asked thee to do owt.’

‘I know.’ They walked on in silence. ‘What will you do now?’ he asked at last.