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Pandora held on to her sister’s arm to stop her moving away. ‘It is, isn’t it?’
    Cassandra shrugged.
    ‘There’s nothing you can do about that and it doesn’t really matter.
We
know the truth and so do our friends.’
    ‘I’m
not
having her say such things about us. The rumours will spread and some people will believe her, so I’m going to see my uncle and ask him to stop her.’
    After a shocked silence, Pandora let go of her. ‘Will he even talk to you?’
    ‘There’s only one way to find out.’
    ‘We’re coming too. You shouldn’t face him on your own.’
    When they got to the shop her uncle owned, Cassandra hesitated. She’d never been inside it before. The name BLAKE’S EMPORIUM sat across the top of the big windows in huge gold letters. A carriage was waiting outside. Her courage nearly failed her. This place wasn’t for the likes of them.
    But the thought of her aunt continuing to blacken their names gave her the courage to enter. Everyone turned to stare at her but she wouldn’t let herself do more than pause just inside the door to get her bearings. There were big mahogany counters on two sides, with a beautifully dressed lady sitting in a chair next to one of them. The walls were lined with shelves piled high with goods of all sorts, unlike the corner shop near their house, where the shelves were nearly empty and only the most basic necessities were now on sale.
    Her uncle was standing near a door which must lead into the back. She saw he’d recognised them by the shock on his face. Moving across quickly in case he tried to retreat into the back room to avoid them, she said quietly, ‘May I have a word with you, please, Mr Blake? It’s very important.’ She didn’t call him ‘uncle’ because he didn’t act like one and because she didn’t want to upset him more than was necessary.
    A lady standing nearby was looking down her nose at them, so Cassandra put up her chin and stared right back until the other turned away and pretended to fiddle with something on the counter.
    Her uncle hesitated.
    ‘I’m not going away until I’ve spoken to you,’ Cassandra said in a low voice.
    ‘Go round to the side door in the alley.’ He pointed to his right.
    She nodded and led the way out again, her sisters following. They found the door and waited.
    As the minutes passed, Xanthe said, ‘I don’t think he’s coming.’
    ‘If he doesn’t, I’ll go back into the shop.’
    ‘Is this worth it?’ Pandora asked.
    ‘Yes, it is. We haven’t got much now, but we still have our good name and I’m
not
having her telling lies and taking that away from us.’ She took three steps in one direction, then came back. ‘How long is he going to keep us waiting?’
    Just as she was about to hammer on the door, it opened and their uncle came out. He was carrying a canvas sack with something heavy and lumpy in the bottom of it.
    ‘Here. This is what you came for, isn’t it?’
    She guessed the sack contained food and for a moment was tempted simply to take it and leave. But that wouldn’t solve the problem that had brought them here. ‘I didn’t come to beg for charity, but to ask you to help us with something else.’
    A frown creased his brow and he glanced over his shoulder as if making sure no one could overhear them. ‘What?’
    ‘It’s your wife.’ Cassandra saw him stiffen and rushed into speech before he could go inside and shut the door on them. ‘She’s been telling people that we’re immoral. And we’re not. I want you to make her stop. We value our good names.’ The shock on his face made it clear he hadn’t known anything about this.
    He looked from one girl to the other. ‘You’re sure of this?’
    Cassandra nodded. ‘Certain.’
    He sighed. ‘No, I know you’re not immoral. I’d have heard about it if you were. You find out everything that happens in a town sooner or later when you own a shop. I’ll speak to my wife.’
    ‘Thank you.’ Cassandra turned on her