Bill noticed the man's hand stopped shaking. Fortification indeed. He had seen this before, back in North Shields, in the Cragg, even in Oswy street.

Then the servants came in and Bill grew even more uncomfortable. The constabulary? Was he getting arrested for trespassing or something? But no, from the rest of the conversation it seemed that this was about Miss Pearl. So the man was indeed concerned at least.

He noticed how the servants tended to their master and Bill looked down at the glass from which he still hadn't drank, because he felt like he was witnessing something private - or something that should have been private anyway. He had half a mind to leave, but then, he wanted to know what would happen. If police came over, he wanted to be there to give evidence. And Joe might still turn up.

And so he sat there uncomfortably, with eyes cast down until he dared to look up again. "Do your children live at home, Mr. Carrington, or should we check other homes?" Staying practical seemed the least uncomfortable way to respond to everything that had just happened.