‘How do you work that out? First you went to the park with Daniel, then to the vet, and today Caroline has been out and about without you the whole day – how can you have found a prince for her?’

‘Quite simply: we’ve had the prince close by all along.’

‘Huh? I don’t get it.’

‘Daniel. I think Daniel is the right man.’

‘Oh, come on. I’ve already explained to you that his case looks dire because he’s too nice. And there is an extenuating circumstance that will render his verdict even more severe, namely his good nature.’

Mr Beck, Esq. I don’t appreciate his lawyer talk at all.

‘Have you ever considered the idea that your theory might be wrong? I’ve watched the two of them carefully. First of all, there’s a tension in the air when they’re together. It’s hard for me to describe, but it’s clearly there, even if it can’t be seen. Like the electricity on a pasture fence.’

Mr Beck looks unimpressed, and enjoys a good long stretch. ‘Electricity on a pasture fence? You’re a real country bumpkin, my dear. I have no idea what you mean.’

Ignoring his argument, I list more of my evidence: ‘And second, Daniel held Caroline’s hand. On the park bench – right across my back.’

‘So what? They’ve known each other forever. What does that really mean?’

‘And third, Caroline said herself that she would like to have Daniel as her rescuer.’

So, cat, what do you think about that?

‘You have quite a lot to learn, my canine friend. What people say and what they actually think and do are two completely different things. Completely different. Sometimes I even think that the faculty of speech is totally wasted on humans, because they almost never use it for sensible things. Honestly, if people could not talk to each other, basically nothing would change. They never tell each other the truth.’

‘That’s ridiculous. I think you just want to be proved correct.’

‘I don’t want to be proved correct – I am correct.’

My goodness, he certainly is stubborn today. I sigh and stop talking. After all, it doesn’t matter what that cat thinks. The important thing is for everything to get sorted out for Caroline once more, and then we’ll be a happy family again, with a master, a mistress and a dog. Beck and I continue to sit in silence for a little while, and I decide to head back to the workshop. Caroline is out at some appointment, but maybe I can get in a little love and affection from Daniel.

I arrive just in time to witness a grand performance by Aurora. She’s going on about her latest concert and embellishing her description with sweeping gestures. It was apparently a huge success; she makes that perfectly clear. My knowledge of good breeding in humans tells me that this much self-praise is considered bad form. The old von Eschersbach, at any rate, would have given Aurora a very stern look. ‘You don’t show off. It isn’t proper,’ was his favourite piece of advice to all castle visitors. Of course von Eschersbach is much older than Aurora, so it’s possible that his views are somewhat old-fashioned. Or that thing with self-praise doesn’t really apply to artists.