‘I’ve come to take you home, Briony, my baby.’ His voice was drenched with tears.

She flicked a glance at Mrs Horlock and then back at her father.

‘Come into the warm, Dad, you’re freezing.’

She opened the door to the morning room and he followed her inside. Mrs Horlock lit the gas lamps and Briony pushed the poker in the fire to get a blaze.

‘What’s all the noise about then, Dad?’

Paddy settled himself in a chair and stared at his daughter.

‘I’ve come to take you home, lovie. This is all wrong. Eileen’s been ... she’s accusing me something terrible... Your ma ...’

He couldn’t get the words out to explain himself, but Briony understood him well enough.

‘But, Dad, I like it here. I don’t want to go home.’

Paddy blinked his eyes as if to reassure himself he had heard right.

‘It’s lovely here, Dad. Mr Dumas is really nice to me and I’ve got Cissy and Mrs Horlock looking after me, and I go out to Barking Park every day ...’

Her voice trailed off. Her mother must have caused all sorts of trouble for her dad to be here now. Even with a drink in him, he was aware of what the money meant each week. Now they’d all moved into the new house, how the hell did they think they’d pay the rent?

‘Why don’t you let Cissy get you a cab home, Dad? In the morning, when everything’s all right with me mum, everything will be better.’

Paddy finally understood what Briony was saying. He hadn’t left her here like Eileen to make the best of it. She actually wanted to be here, and the knowledge hurt him far more than anything else she could have said. Even losing the house wouldn’t have hurt as much as what his daughter had just said. No wonder Molly was dead set against her. Here was a whore in the making all right.

‘You’re coming home with me now.’ His voice was harsh, and he was surprised when Briony shook her head.

‘I’ll not leave this house, Dad, I’m staying here whether you like it or not. You couldn’t wait for me to get here not three weeks since, and if you think that I’m going back to Oxlow Lane with you, you’re wrong. Dead wrong. If you take me home, then I’ll just keep coming back.’

She stared into his face earnestly. ‘Can’t you see, Dad? I love it here. I’m happy here. And best of all, everyone benefits by it. Especially me mum. She might want me home now, but she won’t when we’re back in the docks, will she?’