‘If she was a friend, she’ll be back, I’m sure,’ said Fay. ‘And if you feel the need to talk, then I’m happy to listen.’ She hadn’t forgotten what Bridget had done for her. ‘You saved my job. Nobody’s bothered me since, and I’ve been given even more responsibility. So you see, I could never do enough to thank you.’

Bridget told Fay all about Fanny and Billy, and how she and Ruthie missed them so. ‘Before she got the wanderlust, Fanny was always like a sister to me.’

Fay smiled, a small, sad smile. ‘Sometimes friends can be kinder than sisters,’ she said. ‘Harry and I have a sister but she might as well be a stranger. Alice is a selfish creature. She’s also lazy and spiteful. She and Harry had a terrible row, and it ended in him throwing her out.’

Bridget was amazed. ‘That’s terrible! I never imagined Harry could do a thing like that, however much he was provoked.’

‘He had no choice. I would have done exactly the same. She lived very comfortably in this house but made no contribution at all. She wouldn’t care for Mother, and she wouldn’t help Harry in any way. He bought her clothes and food, he worked hard to keep a roof over her head, treated her with consideration, and still she wasn’t satisfied.’

‘I’m sorry.’

‘My mother’s always been terrified of the dark,’ Fay went on, ‘and one night Harry came home to find all the lamps deliberately turned out. Mother was crying… Harry found Alice, naked as you like, rolling about the bedroom floor with a man. That’s when Harry told her he no longer wanted her here.’

‘Do you see her at all?’

‘No.’ But she had heard her. Once when she passed through town in the evening she heard Alice laughing down some alley. When she looked, she saw her sister locked in the arms of a man.

Fay went to check on her mother again. Maud was awake and Fay stayed to talk to her for a while. Then she had to leave. ‘I have to go to work now,’ she apologised to Bridget, ‘or I’ll be late. We’re due a new arrival of children – two orphan girls, a boy found wandering the streets, and another young lad come straight from the cells.’

‘What dreadful thing did he do to be locked in the cells?’ Bridget asked.

Fay shook her head. ‘It’s a sorry state of affairs. Apparently the lad’s mammy is waiting to be tried for a murder. There’s talk that she’ll be hanged for sure, but they’re not certain how to deal with the lad. It’s said he took no part in the killing, so he’s to remain at the orphanage until they decide what to do with him.’ Tutting, she added angrily, ‘I expect they’ll ship him off. That’s what they usually do.’

‘Dear God! I hope Harry and Joe find Ruthie before the authorities do. I feel so helpless.’