She was charging Rose three shillings and sixpence for the room, one of five bedrooms the house boasted, and this included a cooked breakfast and a supply of coal for the fire in the small blackleaded fireplace which kept everything as warm as toast. The room was spotlessly clean and furnished with twin beds, a wardrobe and a chest of drawers, and two small easy chairs set either side of the sashed window. A large square of carpet covered most of the floor and Mrs Harper had even provided a cot for Betsy, but the most amazing thing, as far as Rose was concerned, was the innovation of a bathroom complete with a lavatory at the end of the landing. When she’d first opened the door and stepped inside she’d stood in awe for some moments.

Of course she knew this standard of hitherto unimaginable luxury could not continue for long and that it was a brief glimpse into how the other half lived; she had to find work and fast. But what? Her landlady was not a chatty soul, and she’d exchanged only a few words with her over breakfast every morning, which was served in solitary splendour in the large dining room which held four tables each with four chairs, but Rose decided she would try and pick Mrs Harper’s brains about the possibility of jobs in the area. There might be something available in larger guest houses, or even hotels or private houses.

She brought the subject up on Sunday morning as Mrs Harper served her bacon and eggs, but the landlady stared at her doubtfully, shaking her head. ‘You’ll be hard pushed to find anything in that realm where you can take the child, Mrs Shelton. Have you references?’

‘No, no, I haven’t. I never expected to find myself in this position, Mrs Harper.’

‘Quite so. Well, I know of an agency in the town for women where you can register your name and they see if they have got anything that suits. Perhaps you could try there? Of course, the factories and laundries would be no good, and I would say shop work is out too. I know you wanted to leave Sunderland but I really think you would have been better staying there where maybe friends or neighbours would have been prepared to help with the child.’

Rose made no reply. She didn’t expect Mrs Harper to be in sympathy with her without knowing the full facts, and she doubted she would look on her favourably if she knew about Nathaniel. No smoke without fire – how many times had she heard that about folk in the past? You didn’t have to be guilty of anything to have mud stick.

‘The newspapers and some of the shops advertise positions in Gateshead too, but as I said, with the child . . .’