chunk: Seemingly without considering either the moral implications or the consequences of her actions, Liza feels attracted to Jim. They never appear together in public because they do not want the other residents of Vere Street or their workmates to start talking about them. One of Jim Blakeston's first steps to win Liza's heart is to go to a melodramatic play with her on Saturday night. Afterwards, he succeeds in seducing her (although the graphic details of their sexual encounter are not explicitly described):
  'Liza,' he said a whisper, 'will yer?'
  'Will I wot?' she said, looking down.
  'You know, Liza. Sy, will yer?'
  'Na,' she said.
  But in the end they do "slide down into the darkness of the passage". (The reader never learns whether at that time Liza is still a virgin or not.) Liza is overwhelmed by love. ("Thus began a time of love and joy.")