Directly before Daniel, in the wedge from about noon to one o'clock, was the old goldsmiths' district of Threadneedle and Cornhill streets, which converged at the site of the Royal Exchange – all so close that Daniel could hear the eternal flame of buying and selling in the courtyard of the ‘Change, fueled by the latest data from abroad, and he could look into the windows of Thomas Ham's house and see Mayflower (like a matron) plumping pillows and (like a schoolgirl) playing leapfrog with William Ham, her youngest child, her dear heart.