‘Well, ’tis a poor reward for my trouble,’ the woman began, but Mr Freeman took a sudden step towards her and she scuttled out of the room. Elsie came in with May’s clothes and her box. She rolled her eyes from him to her, dumped them on the bed and left.

‘Get dressed, May. I’ll wait outside until you’re ready.’

She scrambled into her clothes, trembling fingers struggling with buttons and shoelaces, afraid that when she opened the door he would not be there. But he was waiting for her, leaning on the banister, and as soon as he saw her he took her arm.

‘Good girl! Come along, I’ve got a cab waiting.’

He held onto her going down the stairs and she was grateful for the support, feeling that at any moment her legs might give way. No one tried to stop them but Mrs Feather watched them with baleful eyes from the doorway of the sitting room. A hansom cab was waiting outside, the horses’ breath misting in the cold air. Mr Freeman handed her in and gave the driver the Rodney Street address, then settled himself beside her.

‘May, I can’t begin to tell you how sorry I am that this has happened. When I came home last night and heard what my wife had done I was … Well, let us say I made my disapproval very clear. And as for Mrs Wilkins’s part in this … I told her that it was only because Lydia depends on her so much that I did not put her out to share your fate. Though,’ and she saw the beginnings of a smile hovering on his lips, ‘I doubt whether Mrs Feather would have found her such a tempting proposition.’

She caught his eye and choked back a hysterical giggle. After a moment she said, ‘How did you find me, sir?’

‘I searched the streets for you late into the night, and then when I found no trace of you it struck me that you might have been picked up by someone like Mrs Feather.’ He looked at her. ‘I hope you don’t imagine that I am in the habit of frequenting such establishments?’

‘Oh no, sir! I could never think that.’ But she had thought it, for a moment. As a form of amends she went on, ‘You have always been so kind to me. I think you are the kindest man on earth.’

‘Hardly that,’ he said, ‘but I do feel we have a responsibility to the people we employ, and to those less fortunate than ourselves. That is why I have joined with some other like-minded gentlemen to try to help women who have been lured into a life of prostitution. In that endeavour, we have made a friend in the police force, an inspector who also concerns himself with such matters. Last night, in desperation, I called on him and he agreed to help. He has eyes and ears all over the city and this morning he was able to tell me that Mrs Feather was putting the word around that she had a very special offer for a man who was prepared to pay her price, a girl she had picked up from the street the night before. I took a chance that it might be you and it was. Thank God I wasn’t too late!’