They all watched as Briony followed Jinny from the room. So that’s Briony Cavanagh, each thought, and then cursed themselves. Briony Cavanagh was the person to work for and they all had inadvertently buggered it up for themselves. It was quiet after she had left them. But the room was filled to the rafters with regrets.

Jinny showed Briony into Nellie’s office.

‘It’s Miss Cavanagh to see you, Nell.’ Briony noted the use of the Christian name and sighed inwardly. This place was really run down.

Nellie watched Briony dust off her chair before sitting on it. She noted everything about her, from the perfectly arranged hair to the pale green suit that was plain and simple yet screamed of money. She decided she liked the look of the girl. The only thing that threw her was the fact that Briony Cavanagh, the big Briony Cavanagh, was small. ‘Petite’ the French would call her. Nellie decided she would rather describe her as scrawny.

‘Now then, what can I do you for?’ Nellie wheezed with laughter at her own joke.

‘I think it’s more a case of what I can do for you. I am looking for some more houses. I want established businesses, like your own.’ She held up her hand as Nellie’s mouth opened.

‘Just hear me out, Nell, then answer me. I walked in here today to a bunch of filthy dirty brasses, the place is in tatters and looks unkempt - like its workforce. You are obviously losing heart in the place. I know that, in your day, you were one of the best madams this side of the water.’

She saw the woman respond to the compliment.

‘Now what I want from you, Nell, is to buy this house outright, but I would still want you to run it. I will have a big say in what happens here, I admit, as will my associate, Tommy Lane. But you will be our mouthpiece, Nellie. I’ll clear this place of crooks and vagabonds and wandering thieves. I think the house is in a prime location, it’s big, and all it needs is a few quid poured into it to make it one of the best houses in the business once more. Now then, Nellie, what do you say?’

She looked at the girl, because Briony was only a girl for all her sophistication and expensive clothes, and felt a grudging respect and admiration for her. She had simply and firmly stated her case which Nellie was shrewd enough to know she would carry, with or without Nellie’s co-operation. Briony Cavanagh struck her as that sort of person. What she offered was fair, and was also exactly what Nellie had dreamt of in her darker moments. She would have the status of head of the house without the real aggravation. It was a dream come true.

‘I’ll tell you what I think, little lady.’

Briony raised her eyebrows.