Rosa heard herself give a strained laugh. ‘There was … I thought I saw a carousel last night.’

‘A carousel?’

‘The Carousel of Icicles.’

James looked blank.

‘You never saw it?’ Rosa asked. ‘In the pop-up book you gave me?’

James frowned. ‘I don’t recall any carousel. Perhaps you are thinking of another children’s tale?’

She shook her head. ‘The page is not always there,’ she said. ‘Oh, I know it sounds strange but … it seems to appear at random. The book says that if you ride the horse with the golden ribbon, then you can go back and change a decision you made in the past.’

‘What a wonder that would be,’ James said slowly, his eyes gleaming. ‘But I regret to say I have never heard of such a carousel – either in the Winter Garden or anywhere else.’

He was echoing what Beatrice had already told her. Their conversation was cut short then, when the door opened. Rosa looked round, expecting to see one of the servants, but it was Eustace instead. She had known he would not stay at his town house forever, but it was a blow to have him back again so soon, especially as his face was pale. She knew this meant that he had a headache and he was always more bad-tempered when he suffered from one of those. He stood frozen in the doorway, staring at them aghast, as if witnessing something grotesque.

‘What are you thinking of, receiving this man without a chaperone? It will not do, Rosa.’

Rosa felt a rush of heat spread over her face. ‘Mr Sheppard is an old friend who has merely come to—’

‘He is your former beau,’ Eustace cut her off. ‘Did you stop to think for even a moment about what people would say?’ His eyes narrowed. ‘How long has this been going on?’

Right on cue, Ada began to cry, but Rosa could not pick her up without putting Esme down, and there hardly seemed much point in doing so when she knew that nothing she did would calm her. The baby wailed unattended in her crib.

‘I am here to sell my orchids, sir,’ James said mildly. ‘And to congratulate an old friend on the safe arrival of her daughters. If you think anything improper has occurred, then that is more of a reflection on you than it is upon your wife.’

Eustace turned to him, his lip curling in dislike. ‘Surely you would not deny that you proposed marriage to Rosa?’

‘Why should I deny it?’ he asked. ‘I would think any man with an ounce of sense would wish to marry such an accomplished lady. But as she turned me down, I was certainly gentleman enough to accept her refusal.’

Eustace took a deep breath and took a few steps into the room. ‘I want you out of my house,’ he said. ‘If you do not leave at once I shall have you thrown out.’