‘I can vouch for Miss Begg,’ Minnie said firmly. ‘I’ve known her since she was a child, and she is above reproach.’

‘It so happens that I have a small attic room vacant at the moment, but I want a week’s rent in advance.’

‘I’ll take it.’ Judy opened her reticule and took out her purse. ‘I’d like to move in right away.’

‘Like that, is it?’ Mrs Wood held out her hand. ‘Two and tuppence, but if you want meals it’s ninepence a day.’

Judy counted out two shillings and two pennies and laid them in Mrs Wood’s palm. ‘I’m not sure about meals, ma’am.’

Minnie laid her hand on Judy’s arm. ‘You must dine with us tonight, dear. I want to catch up on all the news from home.’ She turned to Mrs Wood. ‘I seem to remember that we used to have a choice of dining in or out, depending upon the demands of the workplace.’

‘Of course.’ Mrs Wood rang the bell on her desk. ‘Aggie will show you to your room. Now, if you’ll excuse me, Mrs Marshall, I have work to do.’

Minnie was about to answer when Aggie burst into the parlour so precipitously that it seemed to Judy that the maidservant must have been listening at the keyhole.

‘Show Miss Begg to the gable-end room, Aggie.’

‘Yes’m.’ Aggie held the door open for Minnie and Judy, closing it after them. ‘Follow me, if you please.’

Minnie came to a halt at the foot of the stairs. ‘I’ll wait here, Judy. I know what the rooms are like, and I don’t suppose they’ve changed much since I was last here.’

Judy followed the maid up three flights of stairs, which grew steeper and narrower as they reached the top floor. A narrow landing led between the attic rooms, one of which Aggie pointed out as being where she slept, and the furthest and biggest was Cook’s domain. Two of the smaller rooms were filled with discarded or broken furniture and items that might be of use if kept for long enough. The third was quite literally under the eaves, with a small dormer window throwing light on the bare floorboards, and a narrow iron bedstead set against one wall. There was a deal chest of drawers, a wooden chair and a washstand, complete with a jug and basin, both of which were slightly chipped. A candle stub in a chamber candlestick and a box of matches must have been left by the previous occupant, and the lingering smell of body odour remained like a ghost of the same person. As the jug was empty and the basin covered in a thin layer of dust, Judy supposed that the last woman to rent the room had not bothered to trail down to the kitchen to fetch water for washing. She could tell from Aggie’s tight-lipped expression that she was not prepared to wait on the lodgers.

‘I comes up here once a month to change the bedding,’ Aggie said as if reading Judy’s mind. ‘And I don’t drag up here with jugs of water, nor do I empty the chamber pot. You have to bring that downstairs yourself. You have to keep the room clean, unless you’re willing to pay extra, in which case you deal with me direct. D’you understand?’