‘So have you done it before then?’

Nell snorted. ‘O’ course I bloody ’ave. They were the clothes I used to wear but they’re too small for me now an’ I’m too big to get in and out o’ the winders easily. But I promise yer everythin’ will go wi’out a hitch an’ the more you do it the easier it will get. I don’t even think about it anymore.’ She glanced through the window at the steadily falling snow. ‘Try not to think about it an’ we’ll set off about half seven, so be ready.’ And with that she left, leaving Ruby to watch the minutes tick away on the little clock on the mantelpiece.

*

Mrs Petty called her down for a meal at six, as she did every evening, but Ruby found that the food stuck in her throat and she couldn’t eat a thing. Nell, on the other hand, tucked in as if she hadn’t seen food for a month and Ruby wondered how she could be so calm. For the first time since being there she didn’t offer to wash the pots when the meal was over but went back upstairs to change into the clothes Nell had given her. There were thick dark woollen stockings that had been heavily darned and a drab grey skirt that was patched in so many places it was hard to see what the original would have looked like. Over this she pulled on a shabby grey blouse and finally a woollen shawl that had been washed so many times the original colour was indistinguishable. She then brushed the ringlets from her hair and tied it tightly into the nape of her neck, and when she looked in the cheval mirror she hardly recognised herself. Even living back at home she had never looked as poor as she did now and anyone could easily have taken her for someone from the workhouse. Suddenly the bedroom door opened and Nell stood there dressed much as Ruby was.

‘All right, kid. It’s time to go.’ She held her hand out and Ruby took it.

Mrs Petty and Maddie were waiting for them down in the hallway and Maddie looked at Nell. ‘Now, are you quite sure you know exactly which house it is?’

Nell nodded, her face solemn while Mrs Petty wrung her hands together looking anxious.

‘Right, off you go then, and be careful.’ Maddie opened the front door letting a gust of icy wind in to lift the curtains. ‘Luckily it’s a shocking night so there won’t be many about.’

The girls stepped through the door onto the lamp-lit pavement and once the door had closed behind them Ruby followed Nell along the street.