‘We’ll do no such thing!’ Ruby bristled at the very idea. ‘Kitty is given more than enough for her needs. Have you heard her complaining?’

‘Well no, but—’

‘Then I suggest you leave that side of things to me – and now, if you don’t mind, I can feel a headache coming on. I think I’ll go back to bed for a little lie-down.’

As Ruby heaved herself up from the sofa Miss Fox opened her mouth to protest but then clamped it shut again. She had been about to say that Ruby had only just got up – but it would only cause yet another row and they had been having far too many of them lately. She watched the woman wobble from the room then with a sigh she began to tidy the cushions.

Upstairs, Maggie was also feeling worried. Kitty was in the bath in the adjoining room and when Maggie opened a drawer to put some clean handkerchiefs away, she came across the sponges and the small bottle of vinegar. It was almost half empty again – and Maggie knew that it was time to express her concerns. She had put it off for too long but the way she saw it, Kitty was playing with fire.

When Kitty emerged from the bathroom wrapped in a large fluffy towel she found Maggie sitting on the end of the bed with her hands folded primly in her lap.

‘Oh dear, I know that look. What have I done now?’ she asked.

Without a word Maggie rose and went to the drawer, and when she withdrew the offending articles, colour flamed into Kitty’s cheeks.

‘What do you think you are doing, snooping amongst my private things!’ Jumping up and running over to Maggie, she wrested them from her hand.

‘I wasn’t snooping, I was putting your clean handkerchiefs away,’ Maggie answered reasonably.

Kitty was quivering with humiliation and indignation but suddenly her shoulders sagged and a tear slid down her cheek. ‘It – it’s not what you think,’ she hiccuped as Maggie put an arm about her shoulders.

‘Then perhaps it would help if you talked to me about it,’ she said comfortably.

For a moment, she thought that Kitty might refuse, but the girl could keep it to herself no longer. ‘I … I have to … to entertain certain of Richard’s friends for him.’

‘What?’ It was even worse than Maggie had imagined. ‘You mean you …’

‘Yes.’ Kitty nodded miserably.

‘But why?’ Maggie felt it was completely out of character for Kitty to lower herself to such levels.

‘Because Richard took some photographs of me when I was … Well, I’d had a drink and wasn’t really aware of what was happening and I was – shall we say in a state of undress?’ She shuddered. It sounded even more sordid when she said it out loud. ‘Richard promised me that he only took them for himself to look at, but the men saw them somehow and stole some without Richard knowing – and now, if I don’t do as they ask, they’ll expose them to the public, so I really don’t have a choice, do I?’