"Oh, Cassie," Alice said, tears swimming in her eyes. "I wish you would not – "

"I have tried making my fortune at the tables," Cassandra said, checking off the point on one finger as though there were more to follow. "I would have come away more destitute than I already was if I had not had a stroke of very modest luck with the final hand. I took my winnings and ran, having discovered that I do not have anything like the nerve to be a gambler, not to mention the skill. Besides, I was growing very hot indeed under my widow's veil, and several people were quite openly trying to guess who I was."

She tapped a second finger, but there was nothing further to add. She had not tried anything else, simply because there was nothing else to try. Except one thing.

"If I cannot pay the rent next week," she said, "we will all be out in the street, Alice, and I would hate that."

She laughed again.

"Perhaps," Alice said, "you ought to appeal to your brother again, Cassie. He surely – "

"I have already appealed to Wesley," Cassandra said, her voice hard again. "I asked for shelter for a short while until I could find a way to be independent. And what was his answer? He was very sorry. He would love to help me, but he was about to leave on an extended walking tour of Scotland with a group of his friends – who would be seriously inconvenienced if he let them down at the last moment. Where exactly in Scotland would I send this new appeal, Alice? And would I beg more abjectly this time? And for you and Mary and Belinda as well as for myself? Oh, yes, and for you too, Roger. Did you think I had forgotten you?"

A large, shaggy dog of indeterminate breed had got up from his place before the hearth and limped over to her to have his one ear scratched – the other was all but missing. He limped because he was also missing one leg from the knee joint down. He looked up at her with his one good eye and panted happily. His coat never looked anything but unkempt, even though it was clean and had a daily brushing. Cassandra ruffled it with both hands.