Over the years it had plagued me. When she’d told me to be strong, I took it to heart, thinking that somehow I’d shown weakness and that’s why she’d abandoned me. But no. She knew that as a former slave and now a servant in a so-called gentleman’s house, she couldn’t protect me, and it was a duty she took too seriously not to do something about it. I thought of the occasions when Mrs Bradley had tried to talk to me about her but I hadn’t wanted to hear it. If only I could go back in time. I’d give both women my heartfelt thanks for all the care they’d taken of me.

It would’ve helped if I knew that wherever she was Nosizwe was safe, but I’d heard nothing from Elvira. It wasn’t too surprising, as she didn’t know where I was staying, but I thought Lucien might have managed to get a message to me. We’d not spoken since I’d accepted him and it made me feel uneasy. I’d kissed him – did he think I was too forward? He’d made it clear that travelling together to Sierra Leone would not compromise me. Before the ship started its journey proper, it would pause for a night at Liverpool to pick up further passengers and that is where Lucien and I would be married. He’d promised to write and apply for our licence the day after I’d accepted him. Barky wasn’t too sympathetic when I voiced my worries about it – he’d disliked Lucien from the first. I was just grateful that he’d let me stay. Though no one at Crillick’s knew of our friendship, it was still a big risk, and thanks to my final performance, he was no longer certain of his job at the theatre. If he was a bit short with me from time to time, I really couldn’t blame him.