Hugh felt his face flush. "I don't believe my father cheated anyone," he said. "And if you were eleven you can't possibly have understood what happened."
"I understood hunger and cold!"
"Perhaps your father was at fault," Hugh persisted, though he knew it was unwise. "He shouldn't have had children if he couldn't afford to feed them."
"He could feed them!" Maisie blazed. "He worked like a slave--and then you stole his money!"
"My father went bankrupt, but he never stole."
"It's the same thing when you're the loser!"
"It's not the same, and you're foolish and insolent to pretend that it is."
The others obviously felt he had gone too far, and several people began to speak at the same time. Tonio said: "Let's not quarrel about something that happened so long ago."
Hugh knew he should stop but he was still angry. "Ever since I was thirteen years old I've had to listen to the Pilaster family running my father down but I'm not going to take it from a circus performer."
Maisie stood up, her eyes flashing like cut emeralds. For a moment Hugh thought she was going to slap him. Then she said: "Dance with me, Solly. Perhaps your rude friend will have gone when the music stops."
Section 3
HUGH'S QUARREL WITH MAISIE broke up the party. Solly and Maisie went off on their own, and the others decided to go ratting. Ratting was against the law, but there were half a dozen regular pits within five minutes of Piccadilly Circus, and Micky Miranda knew them all.
