MRS NIALL’s building had been run-down, sunlight leaking in through the walls themselves, small animals boldly peering out from beneath the floorboards. Madge’s building was a heap, to put it mildly. There were holes in the floors through which an unwary child might fall, and the place was thick with the stench of the midden. Scraps of rags served as doors where hinges had rusted through. Theodora’s face was stiff and blank, but not the least bit surprised. I wondered whether she had lived in a place much like this one.
We climbed the stairs, pressed against the wall, where we were less likely to fall through to our deaths.
‘They pay to live here,’ Theodora whispered. ‘Most of them more than they can afford. They go without food, sometimes, for the privilege of living in a hell like this
