Of course, she starts to fidget and says she is still cold from the carriage, that the cobbles have made her back ache and she cannot concentrate on much, knowing she is to see a doctor tomorrow. Can we get that over with first, she says, and then she will enjoy herself more, treat me to some gifts in the shops and buy us tea. I, however, could sit here for hours, and if she had been any other companion I may have sent her back to the carriage and on to the hotel without me while I wandered the streets or walked the walls, but I do not wish to leave her, or her to leave me. York is not going anywhere so I escort her dutifully back to the carriage and once at the hotel I order tea to be brought to our rooms and send out my groom to buy some sweet pastries and, if he can find it, a book about the Minster which I can read to her. Soon the fire is lit and we sit together on the sofa before it. I cover her with every blanket I can find and slide myself in next to her, giving her all my heat as she sips gracefully at her tea. The pastries arrive and we eat them most unladylike without plates or napkins and let the crumbs fall where we sit. I lick her fingers clean.

Whilst she fears our visit tomorrow, I look forward to it. I hope to learn what I can do for this delicate bird. Then I hope she will be calmer and start to see this as a short holiday. The first of many, I hope. I privately hope Doctor Belcome will tell us that travel will do her good and agree with my prescription of warmer weather to aid her back and her constant chills. After the visit, I will introduce her to my York friends, the Best sisters, both excellent painters, and their mother, and take her over to Langton Hall to my long-serving friend Isabella and her siblings, always such fun to be around – at least until the tragedy of my last visit. I have tried to put that behind me. They do not suspect a thing, but I am concerned that the longer I leave another visit, the more suspicion may arise. I must be sure not to start to fret at the memory of all the blood... I put it from my mind.