As Jenny took the paper from Glad, her hand shook. She was quite overcome by the kindness of these strangers. Fred and Glad were obviously poor in worldly goods, but they had given her the one thing they had in abundance: kindness and understanding, without thought of reward.

4

The morning excursion to Lambeth had taken longer than anticipated, and it was one o’clock before Jenny ran up the stairs to her room. The first thing she did was to put the clothes she’d bought at the pawnbroker’s in the old suitcase and place it at the back of her wardrobe again. Then she had to sit down for a moment, because she was trembling with a sense of triumph and fear. What an adventure! The forfeits they’d played at school had been nothing like this. Thank goodness no one had seen her coming back into the house with her bundle of clothes. If her aunt had spotted her, she would certainly have demanded to know what was in the parcel. Then she’d have been in trouble.

She saw her trunk had arrived from the school and the servants had put it at the bottom of her bed. With a sense of urgency bordering on panic, she rushed and knelt in front of it. Her aunt was bound to arrive at any moment, and it was imperative that she believed Jenny was falling in with her plans. She must try to fool her by packing her best clothes in the trunk. This would be left behind, but Aunt Gertrude mustn’t have the slightest suspicion that she was intending to run away – if she could, of course. This morning had been a step towards that, but another two days was not enough. If only she had more time. She was desperate to go out again and find a job, but if she left the house once more today it might arouse suspicion, and she mustn’t risk that.

When she opened the lid there was a note from her friends saying, ‘Write to us.’ She clutched it to her and bowed her head as sorrow flooded through her. That was something she couldn’t do, for no one must know where she was going or what she was doing. Secrecy was of the utmost importance. Also trying to keep in touch would only add to the pain. They wouldn’t want anything to do with her now, and she would never see them again. They were nice enough girls and had been fun at school, but they were all from very wealthy families and inclined to look down on people not in the same class as their own. A clean break was the only way.