Soon they approached a large room at the end of the corridor and through the pane of glass in the top half of it, Ruby could see rows of tables with people sitting at them, all dressed in identical drab gowns to the one she was wearing – men and women alike. Nurse Downes opened the door and ushered her in. Looking round at the faces of the other inmates, she felt as if she had been catapulted into hell. Most of their eyes were vacant and some of them were rocking backwards and forwards in their seats as if they had no idea of where they were. Others were talking to themselves and one old lady was picking at a festering wound on her arm.

She stopped abruptly, reluctant to go further, but Nurse Downes smiled at her. ‘Come and sit over here by Dilys.’

Dilys turned out to be a woman who looked to be in her mid-thirties and she smiled as Ruby sat down.

Once she was seated Nurse Downes went to a long counter at the end of the room where two women were doling out the unappetising-looking food into tin bowls.

‘It’ll be sausage and mash tonight,’ Dilys informed her. ‘Although I can’t promise it will taste anything like the sausage and mash you’re probably used to.’

Ruby blinked with surprise. Dilys was very well spoken and she could see that, dressed properly, she would be quite attractive. She was painfully thin, admittedly, but her face was heart-shaped and when she smiled Ruby saw she had dimples in her cheeks. Her hair, although matted and tied back with a thin bit of string, was a lovely platinum blonde and her eyes were the colour of violets.

‘You must be new here,’ Dilys said.

Ruby nodded miserably and was surprised when the other woman squeezed her hand beneath the table. ‘Just try to do as you’re told and don’t make a fuss,’ she advised quietly, keeping her head down. ‘You can’t win in here – I learnt that lesson long ago – but if you behave you’ll be given jobs to do.’

‘What sort of jobs?’ Ruby asked curiously.

‘Sometimes you might be allowed to deliver meals to the patients that can’t get to the dining room, or you might be allowed to work in the kitchen or the laundry. The very best job for the really well-behaved patients is the gardening. It’s wonderful to get out in the fresh air. They’re all hard work but it’s better than being locked up in your cell all day.’ She noticed at that moment that one of the nurses was watching her and she clammed up until the nurse had turned her attention elsewhere.

When another nurse placed a tin bowl full of food in front of them and handed them each a spoon, Ruby frowned. ‘Where are our knives and forks?’