He was looking at her and she knew he was waiting for her to speak but it was beyond her. She nodded instead, a non-committal nod, and when he sighed again she felt a rage spring up that had her wanting to leap up and shout at him to stop sighing, to stop acting as though it was she who was at fault because it was him, him. But instead she forced herself to begin eating although she had no appetite for the delicacies on her plate.

This was all part and parcel of the reason why anything other than friendship between them was impossible, she told herself miserably. She had been right not to let anything develop between them, although more and more as time had gone on she had wanted to. Indeed, there had been moments of late when she had wondered if she was making too much of their different stations in life, perhaps a kind of inverted snobbery? But any relationship between a man and a woman, even those of the same class, had to be built on a solid foundation or it would fail when the storms of life hit, and one with Edward would be on shifting sand. She had never seen it so clearly. But she loved him; she’d loved him for a long time.

The evening was over for her and it seemed as though Edward felt the same, because shortly after they had eaten and the dancing began again, he said quietly, ‘It’s nearly midnight – you must tell me when you would like to go home. I know you rise early every morning to open the shop.’

She forced a smile. ‘Now would be lovely if I’m not taking you away from the dancing?’

‘I’ve danced enough.’

He didn’t smile as he spoke and Ruby felt a thrill of unease. Something had changed between them tonight and not just on her side. Once she had made her farewells to Clarissa and Godfrey and a few of the ladies from the local suffrage society, they left the hothouse warmth of Foreburn for the bitterly cold night. A frozen winter wonderland greeted them; a heavy frost had fallen on top of the fresh layer of snow during the day and now the night was crystal clear, the frost glittering like diamond dust and the stars twinkling in the moonlit sky.