‘Ask Mistress Blackthorn to give you a draught for the pain,’ I said. ‘Since she is in residence here, that should be easy, provided you can overcome your reluctance to let her help you. I want you present at table tonight. We have guests.’ Would a woman afflicted by a severe headache be wanting to get on a horse and ride to court within a day or so, as Muadan’s party planned to do?

‘I will be there.’ Her voice was a small girl’s now, soft and apologetic. She had as many moods as an autumn day. The way she changed from one to the next, quick as a heartbeat, was deeply disconcerting. As I got up from the table she came around to me and, rising on tiptoes, put her hands on my shoulders and kissed my cheek. ‘I’m sorry if I offended you,’ she said. ‘I am trying my best.’ She did not step back, but stayed close, almost leaning on me. Her breath was sweet; her eyes were bright with unshed tears. She was waiting, perhaps, for a kiss in return, an embrace, a tender word or two. How little she knew me, despite those nights of intimacy.

I stepped away from her, letting her hands drop. ‘I’m glad to hear that,’ I said, wondering that I could be so cold. ‘You might make an effort to engage our guests in conversation this evening. Since you’ve met Mistress Breda before, that should not be too much of a challenge for you.’

It was as if I had struck her. Already pale, she became still paler, save for a spot of red in each cheek. Her lips tightened. ‘You speak to me as if I were not your promised wife, but a serving woman.’

‘I hope I speak to all women with courtesy,’ I said.

‘I had hoped for a little more than that,’ said Flidais. As she turned to leave the chamber, she put a hand up to brush away the tears, and for a moment I wavered, seeing a trace of the woman whose image had captured my heart, wondering if I was terribly wrong, thinking I might be destroying what little hope remained of a marriage that, if not the perfect one I had dreamed of, might in time become at least acceptable. Then the door closed behind her, and I realised that for the first time the brush of her body against mine had entirely failed to stir my manhood.