Archibald too heard the noise of voices approaching and slammed the drawer shut, turning the key in the lock and returning it to his pocket. He moved to open the door, passing close to Ann and breathing in deeply. Her heady perfume hung in the air. As he inhaled, he thought of Margaret’s disapproval of her friend’s use of perfume. ‘Not for ladies,’ she had said, commanding him to open the windows wide after Ann and Robert had left a dinner at their house.

Ann swept past in a rustle of silk and the hint of bergamot and jasmine floated after her.

CHAPTER 16

Chapter 16

2015

‘Remind me, what number are you in Magdalen Yard Road again?’

Fiona turned to her friend Martha, who had just pulled on a pair of white cotton gloves.

‘Seventy-three. Why?’

Martha turned a page in the old document she was examining. ‘Did you know that one of the passengers who died in 1879 lived along in number thirty-two?’

‘Those are the tenements at the other end, I think,’ said Fiona as she finished putting on her own gloves. ‘Can I see?’

Martha pointed to a name and address in the yellowed document. ‘Janette Ness, weaver, aged twenty-two. I suppose she worked in one of the jute mills.’

Fiona nodded and pored over the names. ‘There’s another weaver here, and a spinner, presumably mill workers too. All so young.’

‘I know, I read that a fifth of all jute mill workers were under fifteen.’ Fiona looked up. ‘And the kids on that train, horrible. Look, one aged four, another five. The book said there would’ve been more children on the train but there’s no record of them as they didn’t need tickets.’

‘I know, it’s awful.’ Martha pointed again to Janette Ness’ address. ‘Does number thirty-two still exist on your road?’

‘Think so. I’m pretty sure it’s the first tenement when you turn left onto our road from the Green. And I must ask Dad, but I’m sure one of his ancestors in our house was a mill owner in the nineteenth century. In fact, I think he might have been the one who had our house built. Wonder if he was there in 1879?’

‘I thought you’d like this project. I’m glad the boss wants you to carry on researching for the exhibition.’

‘God, yeah. I’m so pleased the interview went well.’

‘I was speaking to her earlier, she said that you’d opted for four mornings a week instead of two full days?’

‘Yeah, that’ll be brilliant when Jamie starts school. Thanks for putting a word in, M, you’re a star!’

‘We can work together on some things – public outreach, papers, online and fliers – and I’ll get in touch with other museums to see what they’ve got.’

Fiona nodded, grinning.