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‘How does one know this?’ Tess enquired How dare this woe Alex? ‘I hardly think you would move in the same circles as he does, rasp now

‘You insolent girl,’ Mother Superior snapped ‘You will leave at once’

‘To cast a sinner out into the night is hardly a very Christian act’ Tess abandoned the effort to be civil, hobbled to the door and, with her hands full of the portot it open ‘But I would not stay here now if you beggedto you both’

Behind her she heard a s violently and the sound of Mrs Wolsey’s voice She seeer Tess reached the front door before Sister Porteress caught up with her, flung back the bolts, stepped over the threshold and left the door swinging on its hinges Moments later it slammed behind her with emphatic finality

‘And I hope your righteous indignation keeps you warht,’ Tess muttered In front of her was Golden Square, a white-stone statue at its centre gliht froainst the dank mist hurried past, a cab rattled over the cobbles on the far side A clock, quite close, struck nine

Tess put down her luggage to pull her cuffs over her knuckles Her h they had been knitted out of thin cotton, not wool, and her toes were already numb

A woman walked slowly down the side of the square, so Tess picked up her things again and limped across to her ‘Excuse me, can you tell s? Only—’

‘Get offher face close to Tess’s She s perfume ‘Unless you want your pretty face marked’

‘No, no, I don’t’ Tess backed away and the woman stalked past with a swish of petticoats, only to slow to a hip-swinging saunter before she reached the corner

‘Evening,friendly, are you?’

‘No, I am not’ Tess whirled round ‘Go away or I’llset nation fro basket and the man stepped aside and walked off hastily

‘Sorry, Noel,’ she murmured ‘We can’t stay here, it isn’t safe’

Perhaps if she found a hackney carriage the cab driver would take her to a respectable lodging house There didn’t seem to be much alternative If she stayed on the streets she would either be assaulted, taken by some brothel keeper or she would freeze to death

Tess slipped her hand though the slit in the side of her skirt seam and touched the reassurance of her purse Thanks to Alex she still had the stagecoach fare frouilders that she could probably change at a bank in theThey were all that stood between her and penury, so she just had to pray that lodgings were cheap

‘What do we have here?’ Around There were two of them

‘Good evening’ She tried for a confident tone ‘Could you direct me to a cab rank, please?’

‘We can direct you, missy, that’s for sure’ There was a chuckle as one of theht down our street’

On a cold, dank evening there was nothing quite like the simple pleasure of one’s own chair, by one’s own fireside with a bottle of best cognac to hand Alex stretched out stockinged feet to the blaze and swirled the glass under his nose He had the rest of the evening before hiood meal, catch up on his correspondence, read a bookworry about Tess in that bleak convent

No wide hearth with unlimited coals for her Certainly no brandy to keep her war for a comfortable position in a chair that had always been perfect before She was used to convent life Just because he’d hate it didn’t ain

And surely they’d find her a good position soon, one where she wouldn’t be run ragged by soes’ older brothers Who did he knoho ht be able to employ her? The probleh to ask the to conclusions based on his reputation, not Tess’s One look at that oval face with the expressive blue eyes, that soft, vulnerable mouth