‘Dearest Gertie, I can’t stand to see you in this place.’ He took a deep breath and delved into his pocket. After a moment’s hesitation, he struggled onto his one knee and thrust a small ring box into my hands. ‘Tell me, may I ask your father for your hand, dear Gertie? Will you become my wife?’

‘Oh, this is too fast. You must let me think, Johnathan. It’s all . . .’ Just at that moment, I heard footsteps scuttling down the stairs.

‘What’s going on?’ Mrs Cooper demanded, clearly not recognising Perkins as the one-legged soldier she had seen the day before. She stared at Corporal Perkins who was trying to get up from his one good knee.

‘If you must know, Mrs Cooper, I’m asking Miss Smith to become my wife. Now if you would kindly give us a few moments of privacy, I’d appreciate it.’

‘I most certainly will not! Get yourself out of that cell, right at this instant!’ She turned back towards the stairs. ‘Inspector!’

Glassman came down to the cellar. ‘Yes, madam?’

Mrs Cooper folded her arms beneath her ample chest and shuffled her breasts up into a more dynamic position. A clever ploy, as Glassman was clearly struggling not to glance at her bosom. He resorted to fixing safely on the explosion of ginger frizz that was attempting to escape the yellow satin ribbon securing her topknot. ‘I’ll thank you not to leave these two young people alone together down here!’ she yelled. ‘Dr Smith would not be best pleased!’

‘Of course, madam. Except that the young man has a letter from Dr Smith permitting him to visit the young lady while she is in here.’

‘Then make sure you keep that door between them locked!’

*

The next day my father came to see me. He sat next to me on the cell’s cot. I was acutely aware of – and embarrassed by – the smell of urine from the chamber pot beneath my bed. I found it hard to meet his eyes when I said, ‘I can’t tell you how sorry I am, Father.’

‘Let’s not regret what can’t be changed. I have every confidence in you, Gertie. Hopefully, after the hearing on Tuesday, you’ll be released and we can put this behind us.’

Yet I felt his disappointment. ‘Thank you for allowing Corporal Perkins to visit me. He was my very first patient, you know.’

‘Yes, he told me. He came to visit me in the hospital to ask if he may visit you here.’

‘May I speak frankly, Father?’ He nodded. ‘Corporal Perkins claims to love me, as he did on the ship, but I don’t quite know what to make of him.’