‘Then you must make haste,’ says Etta, puzzled as to how this young woman can possibly know her name. ‘For I am not alone down here.’

‘Mrs Meake, the keys,’ says Mary, turning back for a moment as Annie throws them to her. She catches them, following Etta around the corner to Natalya’s cell. Hands trembling, Mary unlocks the door and is appalled by what she sees. The tatty mattress, the thin, pale woman wrapped in a blanket, with huge dark blue eyes, black circles beneath them.

‘Come, my dear friend,’ Etta says, holding out her hand to Natalya. ‘It is time we left, is it not?’

Natalya, not quite daring to believe that she, that both of them, might truly be free, stands stock-still for a moment.

‘Come,’ Etta says. ‘Time is of the essence, friend.’

Natalya reaches out, takes the offered hand and pulls Etta towards her, hugging her tight.

‘You must let the dog out too,’ Natalya says to Mary over Etta’s shoulder. ‘For we are not monsters. Not like him.’

Mary, fumbling, unlocks the other door as Etta and Natalya step out into the hallway, hands tightly clasped.

‘Come, little one,’ says Etta and the dog quietly, nervously, steps out, thin tail tucked up tightly by her undercarriage.

‘All are out!’ cries Mary as she steps back into the hallway. ‘All are freed!’

Annie and Edward still face each other in silence, so much to say and no way of saying it. She goes to step past him and he stops her, grabs her arm tightly, fingers digging hard into her.

‘Please, Annie, please. Let me—’

She unpeels his fingers one by one, her anger giving her strength as she pushes him away. He grabs at her again, arms flailing, but it is too late, she is by the door of his dissecting room. She looks in, sees the skeleton from the river, bony wings held in place by metal rods.

‘My God, Edward!’ she sobs, turning to him full of horror. ‘What have you done?’

‘It’s not what you think!’ he says, rooted to the spot. ‘Annie! Please! It’s not – she was already . . . This was for both of us, this was all for you!’

Etta, Natalya and Mary watch from the far end of the hallway as Annie howls at Edward, tears falling down her cheeks.

‘No, Edward! No!’ she says, voice trembling. ‘This was you and you alone! You have only ever thought of yourself!’

Annie turns her back on him, walks to join the small group of women at the end of the hallway. She looks Etta and Natalya in the eye, these two women who have been held down here. Kept as prisoners by her own husband.

‘I am sorry,’ Annie says, sobbing. ‘I am so sorry. I had no idea!’

‘Please,’ says Natalya, her own eyes brimming with tears. ‘I need fresh air, I cannot bear it down here a moment longer.’