‘Aye, well, that doesn’t stop me from being his sister,’ she retorted, standing up to leave. ‘Take care,’ she told John. ‘And think on what I said.’

She pushed past the man who deliberately blocked the doorway so she had to squeeze past him. He grinned down at her and she caught a faceful of his bad breath. He laughed as she crossed the yard and said something to John that she didn’t catch. Tears were blurring her eyes as she hurried away down Thunder Alley. It seemed that she already had a reputation and she had no idea how she would ever shake it off.

She hurried back towards Shorrock Fold as the meeting on Tacketts Field was breaking up. She was afraid of getting caught in the crowds of excited people who were flooding on to the streets and she was glad when she reached the door of the Star and got inside safely, though she wasn’t glad to see Mr Starkie sitting by the fire. He didn’t usually come in on a Sunday and she hadn’t prepared for him.

‘What the dickens is going on out there?’ asked Mrs Hall as the sound of excited voices grew nearer and louder and then faded away.

‘They all seem to be heading for the Old Bull,’ said Mary.

‘Aye. Turner said he was going to roll out the barrels,’ Mr Starkie told them.

‘Then I’m surprised to see thee here if there’s summat for nowt on offer elsewhere,’ remarked Mary, daring to insult him in front of Mrs Hall but knowing that she’d probably pay for it later.

‘There’s better here than free beer,’ he said. ‘Let’s go upstairs whilst it’s quiet.’

Mary went up ahead of him. She often wondered what he used to laugh about with Alice because she’d found that he didn’t have much of a sense of humour with her. She’d been afraid of him ever since the first time, and he often hurt her.

He closed the door and she began to take off her clothes. She knew what he expected now. She was to be compliant. He watched her as she folded her dress and her petticoat and her drawers. She reached for the sponge.

‘No!’ he said. ‘I don’t like it when tha puts that in. It doesn’t feel right.’

‘But Mrs Hall said I was to be sure to use it every time.’

Everything went dark. For a moment she wasn’t sure what had happened. Then she realised that he’d slapped her face, and slapped it hard. Pain throbbed through her nose again and she gasped but knew better than to cry out. He’d slapped her before, but not like this, not on the face where it would show. She dropped the sponge back into the dish and put a hand to her nose to see if it was bleeding. There was a smear of blood on her hand and she was thankful it wasn’t worse.

He was unfastening his trousers and she knew what to do. He got on top of her and she braced herself. He growled at her to part her legs and she did what he said, fearing more blows. He was like a different person when they were up here. Downstairs he was charm itself, calling her his Mary and bringing her gifts. Anyone who saw the way he treated her in the parlour would think he loved her, but she knew he didn’t. There was no love in this, just raw, animal lust.