Dr Lucan was thoughtful. ‘Tannerson is hoping that the boy who was injured can throw some light on the matter. The one in the bed next to your husband’s,’ he added. ‘But he can’t be questioned just yet.’

‘Has he family?’ she asked. ‘Does anyone visit him?’

He shook his head. ‘Not to my knowledge.’

‘Poor boy,’ she murmured. ‘No one to hold his hand.’

He gazed at her. ‘Would you do that for him?’

‘Of course,’ she said instantly. ‘I’ll be sure to do so when I next visit Harry. If my sister stays all week and will stay with the children perhaps I’ll walk there one fine day. I think I’m strong enough now.’

He stood up to leave. ‘You probably are, but it’s quite a long way from here.’

‘Not for me.’ She smiled. ‘I’m thinking that I’ll apply for work on Beverley Road when Harry comes home and that’s a couple of miles further.’

‘Doing what?’

‘Housekeeping or washing. I was in service when I was a girl.’

‘I see.’ The doctor looked at her for a moment, and then said abruptly, ‘I was hoping to see Tannerson today. I know of a small house that’s to let. I think it might suit you. It’s near enough for your husband to walk to work once he’s fit enough, and until he is it would be handy for you to work on Beverley Road, if that’s really what you intend.’

She gazed at him, her lips parted, as if considering how best to give him the obvious response. ‘Somebody has to work, Dr Lucan,’ she said. ‘How else will we manage until Harry is fit again? And a house? A whole house? That would be a miracle, but how could we pay for it on ’wages of a skivvy?’

His forehead creased, and then he said earnestly, ‘That’s what I was going to ask Tannerson.’

The thought of having a whole house dominated her thoughts all day, and she discussed the subject with Lizzie.

‘What I’d originally thought,’ she said, ‘was that when Harry comes home from hospital I’d try for work doing washing or cleaning jobs in those big houses on ’Beverley road. I’d go early morning, leaving ’children with Harry, and they’d all stay in bed until I came home to give them breakfast.’

‘What sort o’ time are you thinking of?’ Lizzie asked.

‘When I was working for Mrs Hodges, ’washerwoman used to be there for five in a morning and left at about seven,’ Ellen told her, ‘so if I did ’same, I could be home by eight o’clock easily, as I’d soon find short cuts through nearby streets.’

‘You’d be worn out.’ Lizzie had never liked early mornings.

‘What is it Ma says? Needs must if ’devil drives, or something like that.’ Ellen laughed.