That was a relief. Being invited into a home rather than Vincent hiring out a room for us at his club had been a welcome surprise that he was serious when he said he saw our relationship growing. Over these last three weeks it had definitely put us on a different footing.

‘Marcus knew I was planning to have you over while he was gone. It might even have been his idea,’ Vincent continued.

It was probably true, but not for the reason that Vincent thought. A friend since their schooldays, he was blind to Crillick’s nastiness, his need for power and control. Vincent explained it away as japes or thoughtlessness. If only Vincent had his own house where we could be together.

‘Nothing from your father?’

Vincent ground his teeth. I should have known better than to bring up his father when he’d been drinking.

‘We are both used to getting our way, but I will not give in to him, however difficult he tries to make things for me.’

Ha. Vincent thought he had it hard. We’d met after his father had cut him off. I knew his allowance had been stopped and he wasn’t welcome at their London house in Park Lane, but he’d never explained why. Still, he could rely on his friends and though he stayed with Crillick he still had plenty of money for carriages, for his gig and for gifts. When I showed Ellen the trinkets he brought me, she said, ‘You should enjoy it while it lasts. Time may come when you can sell those things.’

Ever practical, there was little romance in her but she did have one blind spot, which I liked to tease her over when we were on good terms.

‘Have you ever sold anything that Crillick gave you?’

The look she gave me was so shocked I thought she might cross herself to guard against such an unholy thought.

‘That’s different, Zillah,’ she said.

I wasn’t sure quite what she saw in him. I was grateful to Crillick for my job but I couldn’t bring myself to like him. To me, he was the sort of man you never wanted to be alone with if you could help it, but Ellen didn’t mind. She’d called him her ‘little scrapper’ once – his ruthlessness, I suppose, was what she liked the most. If I’d have pushed her, she would have said she saw herself in him, or vice versa. Give Crillick his due, he hadn’t come from money like Vincent. His money was pure trade. Ellen thought this made him gettable, but the truth was he wouldn’t do anything stupid like marrying a girl as lowly as her; he’d need someone who could sweeten the smell of his background, maybe even someone with a title.