Chapter 5
The bells of St. Mary Le Bow peeled through the Old Nichol, sounding midnight and drowning out the rain. Tessie's heart thudded with every toll as she slipped through the rookery and the rain flushed against the cobblestones of Bethnal Green Road. Despite the late hour, strangers bundled beneath the tenements for shelter and the city's malodour hovered in a damp low-hanging canopy. Her hair darkening in the downpour, she pulled her shawl around her like a cloak, checking behind her in the darkness. She was late, yet couldn't bring herself to run.
Nearing a doorway, Tessie recited the instructions she'd been given. It was marked as described with a white handkerchief waving in the wind. A faint light emanated from beneath the shutters but gave no hint at what waited for her insi
