The box had been used on stage to give the illusion that Felix was cutting his assistant into three equal pieces. Hugh was petrified of it, certain he was going to be chopped up by their father. It didn’t matter how many times Verity told him it was only a magic trick, he never would believe her.

‘Wait right there, Hugh,’ Verity yelled like she was a superhero, ‘I’m on my way.’ She dashed from the bathroom, and into the hallway, picking up her diary en route, and shoving it under her arm. ‘Here I come.’ She couldn’t get into the attic, of course, it was always locked, but she could talk to her brother through the red door, be there to comfort him – tell him stories until their awful father let him out.

‘Where are you off to in such a hurry?’

She turned to see the latest in a long line of nannies. This one was Nanny Bell. She was younger than some of the others, but still had that sharp, spiteful tone that Felix liked so much in his employees, which Verity hated, and Hugh feared.

‘Nowhere.’

‘You’re going nowhere in a hurry?’ Nanny Bell pressed her lips together so they almost disappeared, sucked inside her pretty face. ‘What’s that under your arm?’

‘It’s none of your business, quite frankly.’ She wasn’t about to tell this woman she’s been writing about her. Telling her pages how wicked she was.

Nanny Bell’s dress was turquoise linen and calf-length, and her tights were sheer. Her shoes shone shiny black, and had small, thick heels. Old-fashioned. Her make-up was thick, heavy.

Verity folded her arms across her chest. She wasn’t afraid of this woman. She wasn’t afraid of anything anymore. There was nothing Nanny Bell could do that hadn’t been done before. She was numb.

‘Well, that’s where you are wrong, Verity Flynn. Your business is always my business. Your father has made me responsible for you. I’m in charge.’

Verity laughed, a cold chilling laugh, which she could see Nanny Bell didn’t like. She saw her body quiver.

Verity looked up the stairs towards the attic room, and back at Nanny Bell. ‘Why does my father put Hugh up there all the time?’

‘Hugh is a mischievous child – you know that. It’s for his own good.’

Verity stepped towards Nanny Bell. ‘Is it really, though?’

The woman stepped backwards in her shiny shoes. ‘That’s what I said.’ Her firm voice cracked. ‘If he wasn’t so naughty.’