'Lucca, tell me again about Frank Setons girl. I didnt take it all in when you were talking on the way over I was too wound up.

He reached into his coat pocket for a packet of Lucifers and came over to sit cross-legged next to me in front of the grate. It felt like the old days when I used to go to his lodgings with a paper wrap of cold cuts and a bottle to share. Hed got himself some better rooms now, Id seen to that, but as he settled down beside me I realised I missed the closeness.

'Poor man to lose wife and child in the same year. She was his world. He struck a light and set it to a curl of newspaper. 'I think he will lose his mind.

'But what actually happened? Little Rosa, how did she die?

Lucca held the Lucifer to the edge of another ball of paper and ripped a couple of sheets from the pile of newspapers next to the scuttle. He scrunched them up and fed them to the flames. 'It was an accident. Frank was working on the gantry ropes. Rosa was in a basket at the back of the stage when the glass fell. Danny says she was asleep, which is a small comfort. She would have died instantly.

'Danny was there when it happened?

'S. He had taken some scenery from The Comet over to The Carnival. While The Comet is closed for the repairs we have been moving items between The Gaudy and The Carnival. Some of the acts say the atmosphere at The Carnival is better more . . . vivace.

I snorted. 'Rough, you mean?

Lucca shook his head. 'No, they like it, truly. Jesmond is fair and the hall is smaller so the atmosphere is more intimate, more . . . amichevole, friendly.

I held out my hands to the fire that was crackling in front of us now. 'Well, it might be friendly, but its knackered. If it hadnt been for the ceiling coming down at The Comet I would have spent my grandmothers money on fixing The Carnival first. Peggy says when it rains you can see water dripping down the scenery at the back. The roof is full of holes and the skylight is shattered.

'Its your money, not Lady Gingers. Lucca was quiet for a moment. 'The glass that killed Rosa must have slipped from the skylight. Danny said it pierced her chest like a knife.

I felt the hairs rise on the back of my neck for the second time that night. I glanced at Lucca, the good half of his face was golden in the glow of the flames. He shook his head. 'Rosas mother died giving birth to her. No wonder Frank is mad with grief. He took her everywhere with him, did you know that?

I nodded. 'We me and the Gaudy girls, that is thought a lot of him for it. He sometimes helped Danny test the chains when I was in the cage and she was always with him, pretty little thing she was. Hes a good man and a good worker. Ill see him all right.

Lucca turned sharply. 'Money wont make him happy, Kitty. His voice was oddly flat. 'I thought you of all people would understand that?

I bit my lip and looked away. There was a hardness just then in Luccas face I hadnt seen before. Of course I was sorry for Frank and Rosa, who wouldnt be? But I couldnt do a Lazarus with her, could I? There was something I could do, mind.

I ripped another sheet of newspaper, scrunched it up and threw it into the flames. It caught in seconds, shrivelling into a blackened ball shot with orange veins. The fire didnt really need feeding, I just wanted to sort my thoughts for a moment.

I sat back. 'Them two little ones whove died, poor mites its a terrible coincidence, isnt it?

Lucca nodded, but didnt answer my question. I went on. 'Paradise isnt the best place to raise a kid, I grant you, but two of them Rosa and Adas boy in the past eight days, babes in arms the pair of them? Thats not right.

He sighed heavily. 'Bad things happen, Fannella. It is a hard world and a hard life for many. Those infants . . . Dio benedica le loro anime . . . he whispered and crossed himself, before adding quietly, 'I think it is worse for those who are left for Frank and for Ada.

I was quiet too for a moment, wondering how to make Lucca see what I was driving at without sounding cold as a Billingsgate fish fag. A coal spat in the fire and I watched the page from The London Pictorial with the drawing of me spread across the top slowly unfurl before catching light at the edge. In seconds the doe-eyed, bow-fronted girl on the paper blackened and crumpled to cinders.

In the end I blurted it out.

'Dont you see? Them poor little sods were both dark skinned, Lucca.

I looked again at him now. He was picking at the paint caught under his nails Lucca Fratelli was the most fastidious soul I knew, but there was always paint under his nails. It was his habit to pick at it when he was thinking. I sat up straight.

'Since we brought Robbie Lennox back from Paris with us, two little ones with skin as dark as his have died. Thats more than coincidence, Id say?

It was true enough. Id realised it when Mary OBrien called out to me in the hall earlier.

Rosa had had the gypsy skin of her mother and Adas Tommy was dark as a lascar. His ma had come over from India with an English army family. Poor cow had worked as a nurse to the little rajlings until they were packed off to school and then the colonel and his good lady had thrown her out on the streets. A lot of them gentle souls uprooted from India and shipped back here with their starch-white families ended up in Limehouse at least there were people here who spoke their patter.

Of an instant another thought came. I didnt know about the children who died with Mrs Cudlipp in Mordant Street, but it was like as not that at least one of them was the result of a late-night encounter down the docks between a local bobtail and an outpost of Her Majestys Empire.

'What do you think, Lucca?

He stared into the fire, resting his elbows on his knees.

'It . . . it seems an odd coincidence, but . . . He steepled his fingers. 'No you are right it seems more than coincidence. And what happened tonight . . .?

'Exactly! I pushed my hair back from my forehead. '"Where is he?" Thats what the man said before he ripped out my earring. I felt for the scab of crusted blood. My ear was hot now and it was throbbing too. 'He meant Robbie Lennox, Im sure of it. No wonder David and Joey were scared.

'What? Luccas eye narrowed as he turned to stare at me.

I reached for an iron and poked the fire. Lucca took the iron from my hands and laid it down on the boards.

'You didnt mention anything about them being scared, Fannella, you said it was a favour to this, this . . . David. He looked up at the ceiling. 'Let me see if I can remember correctly you told me that Joeys friend had got a girl into the usual sort of trouble and that her family were angry. I think on the train your exact words to me were "He has asked me to look after the kid until the trouble dies down."

I nodded. 'Thats right. He said it wouldnt be for long.

'But theres something else, isnt there?

When I didnt answer Lucca stood up abrupt. 'Well, if you are not going to tell me, I might as well go.

'No, dont. Youre right. There is more. I pulled the edge of his jacket. 'Sit down again please. Ill tell you as much as I know and its not much. I kneeled up and caught his hand. 'Dont go. Please.

When Id finished, Lucca was silent. He shook his head and muttered something in Italian.

'I . . . I didnt know what I was getting into, exactly. It was late Id been drinking champagne and it doesnt sit well on me, unlike you . . . As I spoke, Lucca tore another page from the paper and crumpled it viciously before hurling it into the fire. 'And that evening was all so . . . unreal. It was like being in a sort of dream. My head was full of a thousand things. I wasnt thinking straight, thats for sure. And by the next morning it was too late.

Lucca brought his fist down hard on the boards and let out a stream of Italian.

I put my hand over his clenched fist. 'Dont dont be angry with me. Please.

He sighed heavily. 'Im not angry with you, Fannella. Im angry at Joseph and his friend. I saw him, briefly, at the station, remember? Hes very dark, very handsome, very . . . persuasive, Im sure.

I didnt answer. Lucca was right. David Lennox had persuaded me all right. I felt my neck flush scarlet under the shawl and I was glad Id buttoned up my dress. Something else came to me then.

'The station! That was no accident with the trolley. Someone tried to kill me before wed even left Paris and most likely they thought your bag was Robbie wrapped in a blanket or some such. I was clutching it to me when I fell.

Lucca frowned. 'But why would anyone want to kill a child so badly? It makes no sense. His skin is dark, yes, and I can see that an old family would not be happy with such a situation. But surely they could pay this David Lennox simply to disappear with him? He is a performer, yes?

I nodded. 'A ballad singer. Hes half Scottish he was born in Glasgow.

Lucca picked at a thumbnail. 'Then he cannot be rich. Surely he would agree to come to an arrangement?

Despite the fire, I shivered. 'I dont understand it neither. But Im right, arent I? It is more than coincidence. The little ones and poor Ada. I reckon someone pushed her into the way of that cart.

A burst of sparks shot up into the throat of the chimney and a glowing coal shifted to the edge of the grate. Lucca took up the iron to prod it back. The firelight flickered across his damaged features as he turned to look at me.

'And what about Peggy? Is she in danger too, Fannella?

Tell truth, the summons to Pearl Street had come two days later than I expected, but I was right about the Beetle not being happy.

'I cannot believe that you have made such a foolish promise.

Telferman scratched the end of his nose with a thickened yellow nail. 'You are not a charity, Katharine.

I noted that, as usual, he used my full first name when he wanted to emphasise my childish errors. 'You cannot buy popularity by the shilling. He sighed and pushed his glasses further up his nose. 'You will, no doubt, learn this in time.

Right on cue, the clock on the mantle behind him struck the quarter. He took out his fob, flicked it open and nodded to himself. A new dead animal was set next to the clock today. The creature behind the glass looked like a masked cat with small ears and very short legs. The dermist had wired its mouth into a permanent snarl. The teeth were huge in its little flat head.

Telferman caught me giving it the eye.

'A polecat. Small, but utterly ferocious. They will take on animals four times their size and win. They do not make good pets. He moved a glass paperweight and took up a sheet of paper, running a fingernail down a column of figures.

Without looking at me he continued, 'They are your employees, Katharine, not your pets.

I leaned forward and tapped the paper under his nose. 'But Ive got money more of it than I could spend in a hundred lifetimes if my reading of the books is true. I dont see why paying a fair and regular wage is foolish. If it keeps them sweet and if that makes the halls a success, I call that good business.

He looked up at me now. 'Do you? I know some who would call it weakness.

There was a long silence.

I folded my arms. 'So, thats why Ive been summoned to Pearl Street, is it? A lecture?

Telferman shifted in his chair. 'Not entirely. He reached for the key that hung on a long black silk ribbon around his neck and fitted it into the lock of the top drawer of his desk. I heard a click.

'I have something for you.

Telferman laid two envelopes on the desk in front of him. He clasped his hands together and leaned forward so that his greasy black sleeves rested on top of the pages. I couldnt see the writing clear now, but from the briefest of views I thought I recognised the hand.

He didnt move, just stared at me. That roll of hair up top was so stiff with oil I could crack it with a spoon. 'This desire to be loved Kitty, Katharine . . . he corrected himself. 'It is a flaw. The Barons will be looking for your weak spot. Remember this. You will have to account for yourself and show them you are worthy. When the summons comes you must be ready.

'Summons? It was an odd word to use. 'I thought it was all arranged. I was just waiting for you to give me the final details. I glanced down at the edge of one of the envelopes poking out from under his cuff perhaps it was all written there?

Telferman started to make a wheezing noise. At first I thought he was choking, but then I realised he was laughing. Considering hed never done that before in front of me it was hardly surprising I didnt recognise the sound of it.

He wiped his mouth with the stained fingers of his left hand, but deftly pushed the letters to one side so that they remained hidden under the arm still resting on the desk.

'I am touched that you imagine the Barons would vouchsafe to me the workings of their innermost circle, but I am afraid that other than knowing that the Vernal Court will meet in the first week of May I can tell you nothing, not the place, not even the date or the time. It was always this way with your . . . with The Lady.

I swallowed and pulled at a frayed loop of brocade parting company with the handle of the fancy cloth bag in my lap. I didnt want the Beetle to know how much the thought of this meeting scared me. Im not a nervous type, I know that well enough. I push things down and lock them away when I dont want to dwell on them. Id been doing this with regard to the Barons.

Lady Ginger, my grandmother as it turned out, had been one of them. For all that she was spare as a rake and likely a hundred years older than Queen Victoria, she was the most terrifying person Id ever met (and I was grateful that hadnt occurred too often). Lady Ginger was brilliant and hard as diamond. Something like limelight came off her in waves shining a blinding light into the darkest corners, only it wasnt warming that light was cold and it was cruel, like she was.

And if she was one of the Barons, what were the rest of them like?

I cleared my throat. 'Vernal Court, you say?

'Spring, Katharine. The Barons hold court once each season. You will be . . . inducted to your place among them at their Vernal session and in good time I will furnish you with information sufficient to enable you to offer your first parable.

He must have dialled the look on my face. 'The parables are reports, Katharine. You will be required to give an account of the quarters business in Paradise. I will assist you in the compilation of this first submission, but soon, when you are fully conversant with the extent of your . . . holdings, you will assess for yourself, as The Lady did. There is little more to say other than to be ready for the call. As you already know, it will come during the first week of May.

Less than a fortnight then?

'So you arent coming with me? I dont know why he certainly hadnt given me a reason to think it but when Id imagined the meeting, just occasionally you understand, Id thought the Beetle would be there with me, standing just behind, all got up in shiny black and reeking of naphtha. In a way I found it comforting.

'What a ridiculous question. He blinked slowly behind his spectacles and just for a second an odd expression crossed his face. Looking back I swear it was sympathy I saw there. Whatever it truly was I never found out because he looked down and pulled the letters out from under his sleeve with a flourish that put me in mind of a conjuror and a rabbit.

'I have been instructed to give you these. Read them when you are alone. I will make the necessary arrangements. He flipped the letters over so I still couldnt see the writing.

'Here. He pushed them across the desk top. When I didnt move he took off his spectacles and twiddled them about by one of the spindly gold arms. The glass caught the sunlight from the grimy window.

'Well, Katharine?

'Its just . . . I frowned. 'You said you didnt know where or when this meeting was going to take place so how are you going to make the arrangements?

He sniffed. 'That will become apparent. Now please, I am a busy man mainly on your account, I might add. Take them, read them and rely on my service. He reached for the black ribbon round his neck and bent to lock the desk again, then he stood and went to open the door. The clock on the mantle clicked, drew breath and chimed eleven times.

'So late already? As Telferman rubbed his hands together I heard the papery dryness of his skin. 'Good day, Katharine.

I rose, took up the letters, pushed them into my bag and stepped past him into the narrow hallway. Just before he closed the door behind me he spoke again, quietly, through the crack.

'The most dangerous among them is Lord Kite remember that, Kitty.

It was almost a whisper. I turned round, confused and, I confess it, surprised to hear him call me that, but now the Beetles door was shut.

Chapter Thirteen.

When I got back to Salmon Lane I folded the letters together and pushed them back into my bag. One was easy enough to understand a set of clipped instructions in a familiar looping hand. The other was . . . tell truth, I couldnt make head nor tail of it. Inside the second blank envelope was a fold of thick creamy paper with a pattern embossed at the top and a single word a string of letters written crisp in black ink underneath. The word began with a 'K.

I looked down to fasten the strings of the bag and caught a movement in the gutter. A bird scuttled awkwardly away a starling, it was, feathers all tatty and spare, one damaged wing held oddly to the side. I wondered what Nanny Peck would make of that.

As I climbed the steps to The Palace the doors swung open. Tan Seng bowed and moved aside to let me enter. I bowed back.

'Peggy!

I threw my bonnet down on the hall table beneath the painting of the ham-faced lad from the attic and called again. A moment later she leaned over the banister rail a floor above and brought her fingers to her lips. 'Hes asleep. She mouthed the words, held her head to one side and brought her fingers together in a prayer steeple next to her ear in a theatrical proximation of sleep.