Harry motioned her to take a seat at the small table in the centre of the otherwise bare room. He pulled up a chair and sat opposite her. ‘I don’t expect you to understand, Kate. I imagine you will think I’ve got my just deserts, but it’s my mother I worry for.’

Kate sat down on the hard wooden chair, leaning her elbows on the table as she met his apologetic gaze. ‘That’s why I’m here. I suppose you deserve to go to prison, although I don’t know what you’ve done to make them pounce on you so unexpectedly. Are the rest of your men here?’

‘Not to my knowledge. I’ve disbanded the gang anyway.’

‘I suppose you’ve cheated enough people to allow you to live in the grand style.’

‘Maybe I simply had a change of heart.’

‘I don’t believe that for a moment. I think you were scared of getting caught, and now they have you.’

He reached across the table and laid his hand on hers. ‘Something has happened to upset you, and it had nothing to do with my incarceration. What is it, Kate?’

The question and the unexpected sympathetic look in his eyes took Kate aback. She snatched her hand free, turning her head away in case he spotted the tears that threatened to spill down her cheeks. He was right: she had left home in an emotional state after her clash with her mother, but she thought she had overcome the feeling of sadness she had experienced so deeply. The news of Harry’s arrest had taken her mind off her own problems, but they were still simmering inside her head, and he, of all people, had sensed her distress.

‘It was something and nothing,’ she said guardedly.

‘A lot more than nothing, by the looks of you. Now, I deserve to be here – I fully admit that – but someone has upset you and I’d like to know who and why that was. Has your father’s condition worsened?’

She shook her head. ‘No, he’s still the same.’

‘Then it must be that mother of yours.’

‘You know nothing of my family, Harry.’

‘Maybe, but you sometimes let things slip. I suspect that your dear mama does not give you the support that you deserve. Am I right?’

‘I didn’t come here to discuss my problems. I came on behalf of your mother, who is desperate to have you home. I’m not sure she can cope on her own.’

‘I’ll be up before the magistrate tomorrow morning, Kate. He’ll decide whether to send me to the criminal court for trial, or perhaps he’ll issue a fine and tell me to be a good fellow and give up my evil ways.’