‘Now I think about it, he’ll probably be out for the rest of the afternoon. Said something about seeing his father this evening. We could have dinner à deux if you like.’

Ugh. The thought of it. And Vincent definitely wouldn’t like it. If ever I hinted at how much I hated Crillick, Vincent defended him, told me I had his friend all wrong, but for all that he still didn’t like me to be alone with him. Much as he protested, I’m sure there was some part of him, maybe even unknown to himself, that had the true measure of Crillick, knew he was dangerous.

‘I thought you were having dinner with Ellen tonight?’

‘Ah, your friend Ellen. A common little baggage, but there is something I like about her. Always hungry, isn’t she?’

Poor Ellen. She was looking forward to her dinner with Crillick and this was how he spoke of her. The man was poison.

‘I’ll order dinner for seven, then,’ Crillick said.

I could tell he wasn’t going to take no for an answer and, as long as I was in his house, if he insisted on dining with me I couldn’t very well refuse him. The only way to avoid spending the evening with Crillick would be to return to the Rookery. I’d known I would have to once he came home from his business trip. It might as well be tonight.

‘I only came here to tell Vincent that I was going back to St Giles, actually.’

‘Are you now? I’m happy to give you a ride in my carriage if you like?’

Part of me wanted to take up his offer out of spite. I doubted his carriage would last five minutes in St Giles before it had been stripped of its hub caps, but even the satisfaction of that wasn’t worth being alone with him.

‘Grace, you’ll tell His Lordship that I’ll see him soon, won’t you?’

It was wrong of me to put her in the middle of things, but it was clear that my best bet was to leave.

‘I’ll see you at the theatre tomorrow, then,’ Crillick said.

I nodded. At the theatre I could cope with him. There I had power. I was the headliner, after all. He needed me as much as I needed him. Here in his home, it was a different story, especially if Vincent wasn’t there. I turned and almost bumped into another trader.

‘Not there, man, there,’ Crillick commanded as the poor man tried to place down his burden.

Whatever he had planned, it was something big.