Clement left his father thinking about his indiscretions and exited the room. A plain door at the end of the corridor led into the servant’s stairwell. It opened without sound and he slipped through, jogging down the narrow way until he came to the bottom level and two more doors. He put his ear to one and heard the clash and bang of plates, pots, and pans. He’d explored every door and every level of the club since his arrival and knew this was the scullery. The second door opened to the yard, and from there a passageway and footpath that came out on Bligh Street. He’d have to walk by the gardener’s house, but it was close enough to the servants’ quarters for him to pass himself off as having come from there.
He was being watched. He’d seen two boys loitering in the mouth of the lane that
