Published by HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd
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First published in Great Britain by HarperCollinsPublishers 2018
Copyright © Dilly Court 2018
Jacket Photographs: © Gordon Crabb/Alison Eldred (Girl); © Heritage Image Partnership Ltd/Alamy (street scene), © Shutterstock.com (all other images)
Cover design by Claire Ward © HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd 2018
Dilly Court asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.
A catalogue copy of this book is available from the British Library.
This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.
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Source ISBN: 9780008199685
Ebook Edition © November 2018 ISBN: 9780008199692
Version: 2018-10-01
For Sam Avant.
Contents
Copyright
Dedication
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
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Royal Victoria Dock, London, October 1882
Rose leaned over the railings, peering into the fog that had crept up on the steamship as it entered the Thames Estuary. It was even thicker when they arrived in Bow Creek, and as the vessel slid gracefully into the dock they were engulfed in a peasouper, making it impossible to distinguish the faces of the individuals waiting to greet the passengers.
‘Is he there, love?’
Rose turned to give the small woman a weary smile. ‘I can’t see very far, Mrs Parker. But I’d know him anywhere, and I can’t spot anyone who looks remotely like him.’
Adele Parker laid her gloved hand on Rose’s arm. ‘Don’t worry, dear. I’m sure your young man is there somewhere.’
‘Max promised to meet me.’ Rose could not quite keep a note of desperation from her voice. ‘We planned it all so carefully.’
‘Then I’m sure he’ll be here soon. It’ll take a while for the crew to put the gangplank in place and unload the luggage.’ Adele wrapped her shawl more tightly around her plump body. ‘It’s so cold and damp. We’ve been away for five years and I’ve almost forgotten what the English winter is like.’
‘I was only nine when we left for Australia,’ Rose said, sighing. ‘But there’s nothing to keep me in Bendigo now.’
Adele gave her a searching look. ‘How old are you, Rose?’
‘I’m eighteen, ma’am.’
‘I do worry about you, dear. I sympathise with you and your young man, but you do know you can’t marry without your parents’ consent, don’t you?’
‘I’m an orphan. Ma died when I was very young and Pa was killed in
