She dressed quickly and sent a startled kitchen maid to the mews to rouse Goodfellow and tell him to be ready to leave for Walthamstow in half an hour. Kate made her way to the morning parlour where her mother’s workbox had been left open, and an abandoned piece of embroidery was still stretched on its hoop. She smiled to herself – Mama was too busy with her new life to bother with such trivialities now. It was a good thing, but without her mother’s presence the room was cheerless and oddly impersonal, like a stage set or an arrangement of expensive furniture in a shop window. Kate closed the door and went to wait for Goodfellow in the entrance hall. There was nothing to keep her here now that her mother and Giles were married and had their own home, but one day she would find a good use for the house in Finsbury Square. Perhaps it would be a shelter for widows and their children, or a home for women who had fallen upon hard times. To make use of her uncle’s legacy for charitable purposes would be a fitting tribute to a good man, but for now she would leave everything in the capable hands of Mrs Marsh and the remaining servants. No one would suffer from her sudden decision to leave London.

Kate went to her mother’s escritoire and sat down to pen a quick note to Harry, explaining that she had left for Warren House. She rang the bell for Agnes, but it was the young housemaid who appeared at the door, her face and apron smudged with soot from cleaning out the grates. Kate gave her the note and asked her to make sure that she gave it to Sir Harry Lyndon, but she did not have time to go through her instructions again as the girl scuttled off in the direction of the servants’ staircase. Then, through a side window Kate saw the carriage come to a halt outside and she picked up her reticule. Taking one last look around the grand entrance hall she let herself out of the house, and closed the door firmly behind her.

Goodfellow climbed down from the box and assisted her into the carriage. ‘You’re up bright and early, Miss Kate.’

‘Take me home, please, Goodfellow.’

‘Of course, miss.’ He glanced over his shoulder. ‘Are we to wait for the others?’

‘No. Let them sleep. You can come back for them later.’ Kate settled herself in the corner and as the carriage set in motion she turned her head to catch the last glimpse of the old house. This was goodbye to the past. Her new life beckoned.