‘So were you successful in your application for employment, Miss Cole?’

‘Yes, indeed, Mrs Wood, and I was wondering if you would allow my friend Miss Marshall to share my room. She is also a probationer nurse at the London.’

‘A respectable calling.’ Mrs Wood stepped aside and ushered them into the wainscoted entrance hall. ‘You are most welcome to join our happy little household, Miss Marshall. The rent is five shillings a week, including breakfast but dinner is extra. You will be supplied with clean linen once a fortnight.’

‘Thank you. I’d be pleased to share with Miss Cole.’

Mrs Wood held out a plump hand. ‘A month’s rent in advance, if you please.’

Daisy took her purse from her reticule and counted out the coins, placing them in Mrs Wood’s outstretched palm. The purse was significantly lighter when she replaced it, and she knew she would have to be very careful with her money if she were to survive until pay day.

‘Miss Cole will show you to your room, and I expect you to read the house rules and know them off by heart. They are for the benefit of all, as I’m sure you will agree.’ Mrs Wood folded her arms and watched them as they ascended the stairs.

‘She’s not so bad, if you keep on her right side,’ Minnie whispered when they reached the third floor. ‘This way, our room is at the front, looking down onto Fieldgate Street.

Daisy was pleasantly surprised. Their room was large enough for two iron bedsteads, covered in bright patchwork quilts, two chests of drawers and a small table situated in the window with a view of the street below.

‘We have to share a washstand,’ Minnie said hastily. ‘And we have to fetch water from the pump in the back yard. That’s where you’ll find the privy.’ She perched on the edge of her bed. ‘You’d best read the rules before we go downstairs again, in case she quizzes you on them.’

Daisy studied the neatly printed list, which hung on the inside of their door. There were set hours for everything from when to use the pump in the back yard to meal times. All the young ladies in the house must be in by ten o’clock at night, unless they were on duty at the hospital. No gentlemen visitors were allowed, with the exception of close relatives, and even then they must be entertained in the communal sitting room on the ground floor, situated next to Mrs Wood’s accommodation. An evening meal would be provided for an additional ninepence a day, but they had to be booked in advance, and food must not be consumed in the bedrooms. This was followed in block capitals by the word RATS, presumably as a warning of what might happen if the last commandment was broken. Daisy felt quite exhausted by the time she had finished absorbing the dos and don’ts of living in Mrs Wood’s lodging house.

‘You’ll get used to it,’ Minnie said cheerfully. ‘Come on, I’ll give you a tour of the rooms we’re allowed to inhabit.’