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ashamed of.’ Mercy jumped to her feet, almost upsetting her teacup and causing even more heads to turn. ‘My lovely mam were worth two of you lot, and ten of that devil who abandoned her.’ Whereupon she stormed from the café in a fury, leaving an entire audience gaping after her.
    Livia quietly groaned. ‘Sometimes, Ella, I think you actively enjoy seeking ways to annoy her. Why on earth mention the poor girl’s mother? You know how sensitive she is on the subject.’
    Ella was on her feet in a flash. ‘And maybe she deliberately seeks out ways to annoy me, by not pulling her weight on the farm and constantly making up to my husband.’
    ‘Don’t be foolish. Amos has eyes for no one but you.’
    ‘I know that, but it doesn’t stop her from plaguing me by trying. And she could probably give him half a dozen children.’ At which point she too burst into tears and fled.
    Livia sank her chin into her hands on a heavy sigh, and wondered if all families could possibly be as difficult as her own.
     
    When Monday came, Livia rose early, not wanting to be late on her first morning. She and Jack had made love last night, by way of farewell, and she’d again begged him to understand. Jack had taken her fiercely, in a fury of passion which at any other time would have excited and delighted her, but somehow served only to fuel the sense of unease that had settled in the pit of her stomach. Did he feel this was the only way he could possess and control her?
    They’d barely spoken this morning as she’d packed her carpet bag and explained about the food she’d left in the larder and the lamb stew he could heat up on the stove, which would keep him going for the next day or two.
    ‘After that I fend for myself, do I?’
    ‘I’ll be home on Thursday.’
    ‘I’ll try and remember.’
    There’d been little show of affection as they’dgone their separate ways, each too stubborn to break the coolness that had fallen between them. Would he even be there on Thursday? Surely he wasn’t threatening to actually leave her? Jack Flint was a proud man, and riddled with resentment against the so-called ruling classes. Being his wife would never have been easy, but could their love survive now that she’d rejected his offer? Oh, she really did hope so.

Chapter Four
    Livia was shown to her quarters by Dolly, a tousle-headed urchin who couldn’t have been a day over fifteen, and whose knees seemed to be knocking at the prospect of sharing quarters with the proprietress herself.
    ‘I can’t think you’ll be very comfortable with us girls,’ she kept saying. ‘You’d be far better off at home, madam, I’m sure.’
    Livia smiled. ‘Please don’t call me that. If I’m to be one of the shop girls, you must call me by my name. It’s Livia, or Livvy if you prefer.’
    The young girl blushed to the roots of her carrot-coloured hair. ‘Ooh, I couldn’t do that. T’wouldn’t be right.’
    ‘Yes, you can. Go on, say it. Say, “Hello Livvy, I’m pleased to meet you.”’
    ‘Ooer,’ she said, holding her breath while she silently tried out the name inside her own head. Then, ‘Hello … Livvy, pleased to meet yer.’
    Livia grinned. ‘There you are, that’s grand. I hope you and I are going to be great friends, Dolly.’
    As they were talking, they climbed a flight of rickety stairs and emerged into a long dark room. Such light as could penetrate the two narrow windows set high in the rafters was filtered by the grime that coated them. As Livia looked down the length of it, she was frankly appalled by what met her eyes. The floorboards were bare and not particularly clean, with not even a rug beside the closely packed beds that stretched the length of the wall.
    ‘Where do you bathe?’ Livia enquired, glancing about, for she could see no further door that might lead to a bathroom.
    ‘Oh, we has a bath every night, if we fancies it, with scented soap, hot water and warm towels,’ the girl drily remarked. ‘So long