‘I have an idea for that,’ Ethel said. ‘I bet he’s one for the ladies, ain’t he? His sort usually are. We can send him a letter, can’t we, posing as a likely lass saying she’ll meet him at the theatre. That should get him there.’

‘I like that, Ethel, but we’ll need him to stay there too. We cannot run the risk that Crillick leaves when his would-be lover fails to materialise.’

The two of them frowned, puzzling over how to keep Crillick at the theatre, but I’d already thought of this. What I had planned for my final show would have him transfixed.

‘I’ll handle that,’ I said, ‘I’ve got just the thing in mind,’ and I smiled at the thought of it.

‘That’s all settled, then. I’ll go and find some scent to spray the letter with,’ Ethel said and she left the room.

We had a plan and I felt confident in it. But Elvira had yet another question for me that I hadn’t properly considered. The same one that Lucien had posed earlier and that I’d brushed off.

‘Have you thought about where you will go?’ she asked. ‘You will not be able to return to Crillick’s, I take it. Do you have other work and a place to stay?’

I didn’t, and even if I did what were the chances of Crillick leaving me be? My plan would likely ruin him. He wouldn’t let me get away with it.

‘I’m staying at Holborn. I’ll be safe there,’ I said. But will you still be welcome after all this kicks off? I would have to tell Barky everything tonight. It would be unfair not to. I’d already left it later than I should have done.

‘For a night or two, perhaps. But I imagine you’ll want to get out of London as swiftly as possible,’ Elvira said.

Could it be that bad? Why wouldn’t it be? Crillick would do whatever he could to make me pay. Staying at Barky’s could only be a short-term solution, but where else would I go? Sierra Leone, Zillah. It was drastic, but there was no denying it would be the solution to all my problems. A fresh start somewhere where Crillick couldn’t reach me.

‘There is a way I could leave town,’ I said.

‘You’re speaking of the Sierra Leone scheme, are you not?’

I nodded in reply to Elvira’s question.

‘It’s a good opportunity, Zillah. You should give it your strongest consideration,’ she said.