Sarah eyed him thoughtfully. ‘That’s a shame, Ben. You’re a very good doctor and I’d be more than happy to have you here to help me, but I couldn’t pay you anything. We depend upon charity and there are many other worthy causes vying for funds. Having said that, there’s plenty of room here, and you’re more than welcome to stay; that is if you don’t expect any sort of luxury.’

‘That would be wonderful.’ He grasped her hand and held it to his heart. ‘It might be just what I need. At the moment I feel as if I’ve let everyone down, including myself. Perhaps a little real hardship will make me feel that I’m paying for my misdeeds.’

‘I think that’s a bit strong,’ Judy protested. ‘You made a mistake; you didn’t set out to swindle the investors. There’s a difference, Ben.’

‘Yes, there is.’ Sarah withdrew her hand gently. ‘Stop feeling sorry for yourself and do something useful, and you can start right away.’ She pointed to a bed at the far end of the room. ‘I think that old fellow is slipping away. Perhaps you’d take a look at him and see if there’s anything more we can do for him.’

Ben nodded and shrugged off his greatcoat, handing it to Judy. ‘Yes, of course. Can you lend me a stethoscope? I left my medical bag at the Marshalls’ house.’

‘Yes, of course.’ Sarah produced a stethoscope from the pocket of her voluminous apron. ‘His name is Bert Huggins, and he worked on the docks for most of his life.’

Ben nodded and hurried off, picking his way through the beds and bodies lying on the floor until he reached the old man’s bedside.

‘I do my best,’ Sarah said sadly. ‘But there’s very little I can do to alleviate the problems these people have, and poverty is the main cause.’

As her eyes grew accustomed to the dim light, Judy could see a small family huddled around a gaunt-faced woman, who had a baby at her breast, but the infant was clearly unsatisfied and mewling like a kitten. The other children were stick thin, dirty and hollow-eyed. Their very stillness was unnerving, especially when Judy compared them to the youngsters in Little Creek – dirty they might be, but they were bright-eyed and energetic, and none of them went hungry.

‘How do you manage without funds?’ Judy asked anxiously. ‘How do you feed all these people?’

‘We rely on charity, as I said. Maybe Ben could use his talents to help our cause. These are forgotten people and no one cares whether they live or die. I do what I can, but it’s never enough.’

‘What happened to that family?’ Judy asked in a whisper. ‘Why can’t she stop her baby from crying?’

‘I found them crouched under a railway arch early this morning. The poor woman hasn’t got enough milk to feed the infant. I’ve given them some gruel, but they’re so close to starvation that they can only take a little at a time.’