749 Fragment of red fabric with a thick, soft looped pile, used as curtaining. One of a great number of artifacts found in close proximity to Madam Buckingham’s establishment. Daisy had a scheme of her own. She headed straight for the Big House in Lonsdale Street, planning to see Madam Buckingham. There were two things she intended to set straight, one about Pearl, the next about herself. She was surprised to be led so quickly through a curtained doorway to a room where Madam Buckingham sat filling in a ledger. The madam kept writing and didn’t look up. ‘Well, Daisy Cameron, to what do we owe the pleasure?’ ‘I’ve come to ask your help for Pearl.’ ‘And why would she be needing my help, or yours for that matter?’ ‘She’s my friend. And she works for you. Aren’t you concerned about her misfortune? Why are you being so unfeeling towards her?’ Madam Buckingham’s pen halted mid-sentence and she grew tetchy at the cheek. ‘Insolent imp!’ She had a mind to give that defiant tongue a different kind of licking.
