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“How did you accumulate so much debt?” she cried.

Jules rubbed his neck. “It was unintentional, I swear, and not my fault. I allowed myself to get drawn into a game of faro when I was too deep in my cups, and they took advantage of it, and fleeced me down to my shirt and garters.”

“You were gambling again.” Her voice was monotone. “You promised me you wouldn’t.”

He fell on his knees. “So I did, and I swear it wasn’t my fault. If you help me this time, I will never, ever touch the cards again. I swear it on my life, Anna.”

She looked at her brother, on his knees on the dirty stone floor. “Help me out of here, Anna. I can’t bear it much longer. It is intolerable in there; it is hell on earth.” He repressed a sob. “I swear on my soul that I will stop. I will never touch a drop of alcohol again. Nor will I ever gamble. I swear it, Anna.”

What could she do? Of course she had to help her brother. He was her only family left. He was her twin, and she loved him. They only had each other.

She had to leave him to find the creditors to pay back his debt with the money she had earned from St John. She had to sell her mother’s brooch, for her monthly wage, though generous, was not enough. By the time she returned to the prison with the document that stated that his debt was cleared, darkness had fallen, and it was becoming truly fearful to wander about the streets alone. It would be folly of her to return to Southwark in the dark, alone; she would never make it there alive.

It couldn’t be helped. She had to take lodgings nearby in a cheap inn.

The room she rented was small and dingy, and the bedsheets were anything but clean. She pushed the dresser in front of the door and lay on top of them with her clothes on, exhausted. At least she was relatively safe inside, and the landlady had not attempted to cheat her. Clinging to her trunk, she fell asleep.

Early next morning, she returned to Marshalsea prison to pay the fine.

The bailiff counted the money meticulously, licking his dirty fingers as he counted the coins. Then he grunted an affirmative, and several moments later, Jules stood in the street next to her, a free man.

He raised both hands into the sky. “I never thought I’d see the blue sky and sun again,” he confessed. He pressed Anna to him. “That was the worst fortnight ever, in my entire life.” He shuddered. “Come, Anna. Let us go home.”

Jules’s home was in the Albany, an exclusive residence for gentlemen where women were not allowed to live. Anna was only allowed to visit for a short period during the day.

“I shall take up lodgings elsewhere,” she told him, as she looked around. His apartment was spacious and lovely, however disorderly, with items of clothing lying about, which Jules hastily collected and shoved into a closet. “I could no longer afford to pay the housekeeper,” he said apologetically.

“And your valet? Do you have one?” She wandered to the window and lifted the curtain, looking outside into the courtyard.

“Pims will probably return now that I am released. Would you like some tea? I think I should be capable of brewing that.” He picked up a box and shook it.

She turned. “Jules.”

“There’s enough left for exactly two cups.” He rummaged in a cabinet for teacups.

“Jules.”

“Oh look, we even have some ginger biscuits.” He opened another box and held it out to her. “We’ll have afternoon tea like the king.” He smirked.

“Jules.”

“Yes, sister dear. What is the matter? You look terribly morose.”

“You should get an apprenticeship with a solicitor. It is the logical next step.”

He remained standing in front of her in stockinged feet, holding the biscuit box. “I know. Except the work is unbearably dull. Drafting legal documents, managing clients. And all for what? It pays horridly little. I wouldn’t be able to afford to stay here any more.”

“But what else can you do? The army?” She paused. It would break her heart to send him into the ranks. But what else could they do?

Jules shuddered. “Can you imagine me with a bayonet? Inconceivable.”

“But what else, Jules?” Her voice rose. “How are we to manage?”

He rubbed the back of his neck. “Can we not continue as we have? You seem to be earning rather well, if you managed to settle that debt.”

“That was merely a temporary arrangement because I instructed an earl’s niece for the summer. It paid handsomely. But that position will come to an end now, and I shall have to seek another situation.” She’d never told him about her true employment as a housemaid at the seminary. She would not do so now, either. She realised with a heavy heart that returning to her old position might prove exceedingly difficult. Not only because of the risk of her deception being uncovered but also because such toil might no longer satisfy her.

She worried her lower lip.