‘Isn’t it splendid?’ she said, pressing her nose to the window, her breath clouding the glass.

Lou studied an old woman decorated with feathers and dripping in so many jewels that they seemed to be weighing her down. ‘I’ve never seen a show quite liked it.’

‘Mama would be pleased to hear you say so. Oh look!’ Charlotte rubbed the condensation from the window and pointed to a family just arrived. ‘It’s Melinda Forbes! Her father is a magistrate. We used to play together when we were small. How grown up she looks tonight. I do believe she is wearing her grandmother’s tiara!’ In an instant, Charlotte’s giddy mood evaporated. She slumped back, folding her arms across her chest.

‘What’s wrong?’ Lou asked.

‘Nothing,’ Charlotte sighed. But in the same breath, she added, ‘I sometimes think my family will never allow me to grow up.’

Lou looked at Charlotte’s face. She was so young and so beautiful, with her whole life to look forward to. Unless George Caxton had his way. Tread carefully, Lou. Don’t scare her. ‘Charlotte, do you really want to go to university? I mean, really.’

‘More than anything. But it’s hopeless, isn’t it, when my family are so against it. Except for Aunt Leonora, of course.’

‘You do know I would do anything to help your cause, don’t you?’

Charlotte smiled. It wasn’t the usual smile that lit her whole face, but a resigned, sad sort of smile. ‘Thank you, Louisa. But I’m afraid that my father will never be convinced. Oh, blast it.’ Her hands dropped to her lap. ‘Why can’t they see I’m no longer the little girl who used to sit up here and watch the guests arrive as I was too young to go down to the party? If I try to join in conversations about politics or suffrage, they look at me as though it’s a passing fancy. But why shouldn’t I do something useful with my life? I think I’d make a jolly good doctor or solicitor or teacher. My brain works just as well as any man’s, doesn’t it? Not that you would know that, if you spoke to my mother. If she has her way, by this time next year, I shall be married off to some starchy military man or a boring prig of a country oaf who will have me tied to his dusty old house, producing a whole herd of babies, like a heifer. If that happens, I shall die, I know I shall.’

An icy blast travelled down Lou’s spine. ‘Don’t you ever stop fighting, Charlotte. Keep shouting. Make them hear you.’

‘But I’m just so tired of it all, Louisa. When do you get to the point of saying, that’s it, enough, I give in?’

Lou took Charlotte by the shoulders. ‘Never! Not while there is breath in your body.’

Charlotte’s face broke into a broad grin. ‘Oh, Louisa, you are so different to anybody I’ve ever known. When I’m with you, I believe that my dreams really could come true.’