Ruby immediately began to look for a way to escape but was quickly disappointed when she found that there was no way out. The only entrance to the courtyard was the door they had just come through and the wall was far too sheer and high to climb.

Her shoulders sagged with disappointment and she glanced over to see Dilys watching her with a sad look on her face. ‘I did try to tell you that there’s no way out,’ she said gently as Ruby started to cry tears of rage and frustration. ‘And if you get yourself all worked up again it’ll be back in the punishment room or the doctor will be doling out more of his so-called cures.’ She took Ruby by the shoulders and forced her to look at her. ‘Look, it’s different for me. I know that my family will never come for me and I’ve had to accept it. But you told me that you have a lot of people who won’t believe that you’ve just cleared off without a word. They’ll all be worried about you and I wouldn’t mind betting they’ll be looking for you even as we speak. Just try to be patient and don’t give up hope and it will make it so much easier for you. Will you at least try . . . for me?’

Ruby sniffed and gave her a watery smile. Without Dilys she felt she really would go mad in here but having her to talk to had helped. ‘I will,’ she promised as side by side they began to walk around the courtyard.

*

The days seemed to drift one into another but Ruby did her best to do as Dilys had advised, which at least kept her free from the leeches and the cold water baths. She lived for the times when she was let out of her cell and the moments when she could speak to Dilys, albeit briefly. She no longer knew how long she had been there, as her nails had worn down to the quick so she had not been able to mark the days on the cell wall for some time, but it felt like forever. Then one day when Nurse Downes opened the door to take her to dinner, she whispered urgently, ‘Please, please won’t you help me? If you could just get word to Hermione Pembroke, the lady I was living with, about where I am, I know she would come and get me out of here.’