‘I’m going to build this railroad,’ he whispered, and she could see his eyes glittering in the darkness. ‘I’m going to build this railroad, and by the time this decade’s out, you’re going to go riding on it like a queen. You just remember that.’

He held her bare breast in his warm, dry, masculine hand, the ball of his thumb rotating softly and provocatively. She tilted her head back, as if she was expecting him to kiss her neck. He leaned forward, his lips slightly parted. He hesitated; then he kissed her with great tenderness and controlled passion on her mouth.

‘I believe you,’ she said. ‘I’m sorry.’

He said nothing at all. The house was quiet in the dusky warmth of the evening. The servants had left at noon for the market, and then for a few hours off, and they wouldn’t return until dinnertime. Hannah kept a pet cockatoo in the front parlour, in a white cage, and they could hear it rattling and scratching.

Collis took Hannah by the wrist, opened the door to the back stairs, and led her up. The stairs came out by the door to their bedroom, and Collis pushed it open, so that the last reflected light of the day was diffused across the landing. Then he bent down and picked Hannah up in his arms, holding her like a new bride, except that one of her breasts was exposed, and that she was very much more attractive and magnetic to him now than a new bride ever could have been. Her pink skirts hung down like the petals of a rose mallow, and her blonde hair was shining.

He laid her down on their wide, quilted bed and quickly stripped off his vest, his shirt, and his trousers. She watched him without a smile, although she was already feeling breathless for him. The room around them was decorative and warm, and the pink glass perfume bottles on her dressing-table sparked like magical potions.

Naked, his body thicker now, but still muscular, Collis climbed on to the bed. He whispered, ‘Hannah …’ and the way he whispered it carried a host of implications. An implication of desire; an implication of deep and fulfilled emotion; and also an implication of determination. Hannah reached down and lifted up her skirts for him, revealing her white bloomers with their tiered flounces.