Next day, during the carriage ride to Exeter, Piers’ words kept coming back to Rosalind as she sat beside an excited Nancy. She answered when Nancy asked her a question, but her mind was elsewhere. She could not help wondering what might have happened had she married Alex instead of his brother, but Piers was so excited at the prospect of becoming a father, and so attentive, that she knew she had made the right decision. He had even given her a purse full of money to pay for the clothes and anything she wanted to purchase for herself in town. She knew that this was his way of saying how pleased he was with the news that he was to become a father, and she struggled with feelings of guilt for even thinking of another man – but Alex was not someone who was easy to forget.

Gurney dropped them in the narrow street where Meggie Brewer lived.

‘I’ll drive round to the Cathedral Close, if that’s all right with you, ma’am.’

‘Yes, Gurney, of course. We don’t want to block the road and I can’t say how long we’ll be. Nancy and I will come and find you when we’re done here. I might even do a little shopping.’

‘Very well, ma’am.’ Gurney climbed back onto the box and drove off.

Rosalind took Nancy by the hand. ‘Let’s see what Mrs Brewer has made for you.’

Nancy was about to answer when a small, barefoot boy came running towards them pursued by a large and very angry man. The child’s ragged clothes were badly singed and his hair and face blackened with soot.

‘Stop that boy. He’s a runaway,’ the man bellowed, gasping for breath.

Rosalind caught the boy up in her arms. ‘It’s all right. Don’t be frightened.’

He struggled but Nancy caught him by the hand. ‘Mrs Blanchard is a good lady, boy.’

‘You’re safe with me,’ Rosalind said firmly. She wrapped her arms around his skinny body and the man came to a halt, leaning against the wall of the terraced house while he caught his breath.

‘You can give him back to me now, missis. That there boy belongs to me. I bought him fair and square.’

Rosalind faced him defiantly. ‘You can’t buy a child, sir. I take it from the state of him that he’s a climbing boy and you must be the sweep.’

‘It’s a respectable trade, ma’am, and that boy is one of my apprentices.’

‘Then shame on you, sir.’ Rosalind tightened her hold on the trembling child. ‘Just look at the state of him. He has burns on his feet and legs, and goodness knows what the soot has done to his lungs.’

‘He’s a lazy little good-for-nothing. I had to light the fire to make him climb higher. It’s the only way to teach them.’