Kate was up early next morning, and set off for Cable Street on her own this time. She would have taken Jenny, but it would cause trouble both above and below stairs if she went against her mother’s wishes. Kate missed Jenny’s company, but she would have to work upon Mama’s better nature if she wanted to have her own personal maid. First and foremost she would have to swallow her pride and apologise.

However, once set upon a mission, Kate was determined to see it through, and she hailed a cab. This cabby made no comment on her destination and he dropped her off outside the premises, accepting the fare but refusing to wait for her.

‘I’d be losing work if I sat around waiting for passengers. I got a living to make, miss. I got nippers to feed, so I’ll be on me way.’

Despite her protests he drove off and she was left alone in the alien surroundings of Cable Street. She was assailed on all sides by unfamiliar noises from the docks, together with the rumble of trains as they headed towards the end of the line at the Minories, and the sound of booted feet pounding the pavements. The people who trudged up and down Cable Street were poorly dressed, especially when compared with those who lived and worked in the more affluent area of Finsbury Square. Kate was getting very odd looks from passers-by as she waited for Augustus Spears to answer her knock on the door, and she shifted nervously from one foot to the other. He came eventually and somewhat reluctantly allowed her to enter the building. It was half-past nine in the morning, but he was still wearing a grubby nightshirt beneath a faded and equally dirty woollen dressing gown. His bare feet pattered on the tiles as he padded into the kitchen where a desultory fire sputtered and spat sparks as flames licked the damp kindling.

‘What time of day d’you call this?’ he demanded crossly. ‘I ain’t even had me first cup of tea this morning.’

‘I’m sorry to inconvenience you,’ Kate said tactfully, ‘but I wanted to find out what your employer said to my offer.’

Spears ran his hand through his long, untidy hair. ‘I never thought you’d come back. This ain’t the place for the likes of you, miss. Go home and do whatever it is that young ladies like you does while the rest of us works ourselves to death.’

Kate looked round at the grubby floor, the dirty fingermarks on the walls and the peeling paintwork. It did not look as though Augustus Spears overexerted himself in any way. Even his attempts at making a pot of tea were sloppy, and it was obvious that the milk was on the turn. Lumps of curdled cream floated on the top of the murky brown liquid in his cup, but he drank it with relish.