7:40 a.m. — Willow Court Boarding House 🔍

At 7:40 a.m. in the narrow dining room of Willow Court Boarding House, I ate bread spread with dripping while coal smoke pressed against the rain-speckled windows. A horse omnibus rattled beyond the brick terrace, and every hoofbeat made the teaspoons tremble in their saucers. I counted my coins twice before setting aside a few pence for dinner, then tucked my small phrase book into the inner pocket of my wool coat. On this first morning, the landlady’s brisk greeting sounded less severe when she quietly added another spoonful of tea to my cup.

5:20 p.m. — Bell & Finch Stationer’s Workroom 🔍

At 5:20 p.m. in the back workroom of Bell & Finch Stationer’s, slanting sun lit the dust above the type cases as I folded cream paper beside the iron press. The foreman corrected my grip on the bone folder without impatience, and soon the edges lay square enough for him to give a short nod. My cuffs were blue with ink, and the room smelled of hot metal, paste, and damp wool brought in from the street. Before I left, the young clerk lent me a worn grammar book and asked whether we might practise conversation after tomorrow’s supper; I walked home beneath the first gas lamps feeling the city had opened one small door.