The prison seemed even more unwelcoming than it had on Kate’s last visit, and she had to force herself to enter the building. The warder on duty appeared to remember her and had obviously jumped to the wrong conclusion. He grinned and winked in a suggestive manner that might have offended her had her nerves not been so fraught. After what seemed like an eternity of waiting in a dismal cell-like room that smelled of damp and unwashed bodies, another warder shoved Harry over the threshold.

‘Five minutes,’ he said tersely, and slammed the door.

‘Kate?’ Harry stared at her frowning. ‘Why have you come here again? This isn’t the place for you.’

‘I returned from Papa’s funeral to find Monks in our drawing room with my terrified mother.’

‘The devil!’ Harry said angrily. ‘If he hurt you I’ll—’

‘He didn’t touch either of us, but he made it clear that he knows you’re working with the police. He said if you continued to do so it would be the worst for Mama and myself.’

‘I’m sorry, Kate. It was wrong of me to involve you in the first place, but at the moment my hands are tied. My sentence was genuine, and probably richly deserved,’ he added with a humorous glint in his eyes. ‘But my men never hurt or terrorised anyone. They were there to keep Monks and his gang away from my clubs. We kept the peace in a manner of speaking, although admittedly we were on the wrong side of the law.’

‘Monks needs to be stopped. I don’t expect you to give up your efforts. I’m sure I was followed here, so at least he knows that I kept my word.’

Harry took both her hands in his. ‘You must get away from London. This isn’t your fight, Kate.’

The warmth of his grasp sent a pleasant shiver down her spine, but this was neither the time nor the place for letting down her guard and she snatched her hands free. ‘It became my battle when Monks entered my home and scared my mother. Now it’s become very personal, Harry. Your mother and Annie will be at Warren House by now and I’m going to take Mama to join them, whether she likes it or not.’

‘You’ll stay there, too?’

‘I will, although I wish there was something I could do to bring Monks to justice.’

‘Leave that to me. Now that I know my mother and Annie are out of danger I can go ahead with my plans.’

‘How will I know when it’s safe to return to London?’

‘I’ll get word to you somehow. Who knows? I might be released early due to my co-operation with the authorities.’