I was not so sure. Da looked more disturbed in those first bleak days of Spencer’s disappearance than I had ever seen him. But he wasn’t worried so much about Spencer as about himself. He was thinking, That could’ve been me press-ganged. He sent word to all his pals to find out where Spencer might be, but also to find out if the press gang would come back for more recruits. He even kept away from the Mussel Inn.

Da asked if I might want to come back home to Ma and help her and Joan out. Things had not been the same since I left.

I said I would not. I had a new home now.

And the final question, typical of Da: had Spencer left anything of value behind?

I shrugged at that and did not answer it one way or another, but that was a bit dishonest of me.

There were two keys to Spencer’s locked perfume cabinet, and we had one each. He trusted me like that, although mibbie he ought not to have done. I let a second week crawl by with no further news. Then, finally, I opened the cabinet. I needed to. I’d had enough cash in my purse to last me that long, but one morning there wasn’t enough money in it for a trip to the market.

The cabinet was of a dark wood and had an engraving of a serpent on it. Whence it had come, I know not, but it had the grainy feel of a foreign country and the scent of cologne. I had always kept my key at my side of the bed and so, on a melancholy morning with an empty pantry, I took it and opened the cabinet. It sprung open – click – unleashing a breath of scent, and inside was a packet of cash. Thank God! If there had only been perfume, I would not have known know what to do with it. But cash it was, and although it was not the fortune I had hoped for, it was enough. I took it out and counted it. Enough for me to live on for a few months.

Or enough to get me to London.

I couldn’t do that, though, could I? What if Spencer came back and we missed each other entirely? That would be a disaster. I pushed the thought out of my head altogether and went up to Ma and Da’s and let Ma serve me her hen broth, and I did not tell them about the stash of money. I knew I had four months left in the lodgings, for Spencer had bragged of a long lease when he got the keys. I was all right for a few months, but if I didn’t want to return to baiting lines, then I had to sort out a plan.

In the end, though, a plan sorted itself out.