‘But didn’t Mrs Dawes realise that something was going on?’ Kitty asked, appalled.

Maggie shrugged. ‘I’m not sure. When I was about twelve I heard them having an argument one day and she told him that she didn’t think he should go into my bedroom alone any more because I was getting older and the servants might think it was unseemly. By then my nanny had left and I had a governess and a tutor who only came during the day. I was so relieved because I thought he’d stop then and do as she said, but after that he used to wait until she went out. She was involved with lots of different charities, as you know, and often went out at night – so he would sneak into my room then. And then on my thirteenth birthday he came and said that I was a young lady now and it was time to learn how to please a man, and he—’

‘It’s all right,’ Kitty said hastily. ‘You don’t have to go on.’ Kitty herself was very naïve – in fact, Richard was the first man who had ever kissed her – but she had heard enough from the other girls at Treetops and the odd snatches of conversation between the staff to know vaguely what went on between a man and a woman.

‘And you’ve had to endure this all that time?’

Maggie loudly blew her nose. ‘Yes – but then suddenly I couldn’t stand it any more, and a few days ago when he sneaked out of my room after he’d … Well, the next day, after a blazing row, I just snatched what money was at hand and left. I walked and ran all the way into town and thankfully I found I had just enough for the train fare to London. I’d thought that once I was here I would be able to somehow find you in Chelsea and get a job and somewhere to live, but I soon discovered it wasn’t going to be as easy as I thought and I ended up sleeping in shop doorways. I don’t regret running away though,’ she said fiercely. ‘I’d do the same again if they ever tried to make me go back. Or I’d kill myself.’

‘You should have told someone what he was doing to you!’ Kitty’s shock had been replaced with fury now. How could a man who had forced Maggie to call him Father do such a dreadful thing to her? He was worse than an animal.

Maggie laughed, a brittle laugh that held no humour. ‘What would have been the point? Mr Dawes was a well-respected member of the community while I was just a stray that had been lucky enough to be taken in by him and his wife. No one would have believed me.’

‘But it’s so unfair!’ Kitty stood up and began to pace the floor, her hands clenched into fists. ‘He should be punished and people should know what he really is.’