Sarah was pleased Henry had so readily provided the information, but hadn’t expected him to give it up so easily. Now that he had, he looked very pleased with himself, though the same couldn’t be said for Mrs Alderton-Steele.

‘I see,’ she said, her voice no longer forthright but tremulous. ‘Henry, please reward Miss Jepson with the sum of fifty pounds, and Miss Jepson, thank you for returning my jewellery. I do hope a reward will secure your silence about everything you have just heard?’

‘Yes, thank you, Mrs Alderton-Steele, and I can promise you that nothing I’ve heard today will be spoken about outside of these walls,’ Sarah answered.

‘Good, and I hope you keep your promise. I am deeply ashamed of my son, and he will be punished, but if any of my friends and acquaintances hear of his disgraceful behaviour, I will instruct my solicitor to pursue the perpetrator of the rumours for defamation of character.’

‘It won’t come from me,’ Sarah said. She hadn’t expected a reward, and was reeling at how generous it was, but the mention of solicitors frightened her. She hadn’t liked telling lies, but it was the only way she could think of to make Mrs Alderton-Steele see the truth, and it had worked. Henry had blabbed, the jewellery was returned, and now Sarah hoped Mrs Alderton-Steele would see to it that Godfrey never laid a hand on Doreen again. She doubted Jenny would get her job back, but at least her friend would have the pleasure of knowing that Godfrey’s sickening behaviour had been uncovered.

‘Good, and now Henry will see you out.’

Sarah dashed back over Battersea Bridge feeling slightly dizzy and thankful the wind was behind her to speed her along. She’d stuffed the reward money into her bag, but hadn’t dared to take a close look at it yet. Fifty pounds – she could hardly believe it! It was more money than she’d ever seen in her life!

Once on the other side of the bridge, Sarah began to relax a little in the surroundings she found familiar, though kept her head down as she dashed past the police station where her father worked.

When she got home she’d have to find somewhere safe to keep the money. She couldn’t risk losing it, not this amount of cash. If she was clever and kept a clear head, it would be enough to set her and Tommy up for life.

Chapter 31