‘Run away. You think you’ve won, but you’re not out of England yet,’ Crillick shouted over Vincent who barred his way to Lucien and me.

How long could he hold him off? Was Crillick angry enough to charge him?

The sailor looked worried by the developments. He had untied the rope on the rowing boat and the seated passengers were impatient to get going, away from the trouble that was rapidly escalating.

‘He can look after himself, Zillah. You’ll have to jump now,’ Barky said.

Lucien smiled at me encouragingly. There it was, that warmth. It said he wanted me still. I took a few steps back, ready to make a leap, as the boat started to drift away from the dockside.

‘Look at you taking His Lordship’s cast-offs,’ Ellen shouted at Lucien. ‘Do you know she’s in the pudding club?’

Two words: not long words and yet they made time stand still. Had he heard? Understood? Yes, Lucien’s arms fell away and it was only Barky grabbing me by the waist that stopped me from falling. Pregnant. How could Ellen know when I did not? But of course, she was right. I’d thought it was all the strain of the past two weeks that had made me both sick and yet hungrier than ever. But no. There was a tiny life growing inside me. I remembered Ellen making a comment about me getting fat as we’d got ready together. She must have known for a while now.

The rowing boat bobbed on the current, Lucien still standing, the oarsmen in shock and the passengers growing increasingly annoyed at the delay. The look on Lucien’s face was terrible to see.

‘Row,’ he shouted.

It broke the spell. The oarsmen, directed by the sailor, fell to and Lucien sat down. I watched the boat make its way out to the ship that would have taken me safely away from England to a new life in Sierra Leone.

‘Lucien,’ I called, but the wind snatched his name from my lips so it sounded like the cawing gulls that soared above us. My legs buckled and I felt Barky lower me to the quayside.

‘Milord,’ he called out over his shoulder.

I waited for Vincent’s arms to wrap around me. For him to hold me like I’d held him not twenty minutes before. A baby. This changed everything between us. He was shouting: him and Crillick and Ellen.