James breathed a sigh. ‘I’m relieved to hear it,’ he said. ‘Well, I believe I’ve taken up enough of your time, Miss Warren, so I’ll bid you good day. I hope you are pleased with the orchids.’

And with that, he climbed up into his carriage and put his hand out the window in a wave as it set off down the drive. Rosa kept the awful smile pasted to her face until the horses disappeared through the gates, then she whirled on her heel and stormed into the house back to Eustace.

‘You wretched creature,’ she hissed. ‘How dare you behave in such a manner to my guest?’

‘It is you who are at fault, madam,’ he said, bitterness dripping from every syllable. ‘Perhaps that is how things are done in America, but we have higher standards here. For heaven’s sake, will you not quieten the child? Or better yet, call for the nanny to take them to the nursery where they belong.’ He glared towards the crib where Ada continued to howl. ‘I have the most sickening headache.’

He crossed to the servants’ bell and tugged it so hard he was in danger of snapping the cord.

‘If our presence offends you so much, then perhaps I shall return to America and take the girls with me!’

Rosa was not sure if she really meant the threat. Being a duchess and living in such a house had been her dream once, and she still wanted that life desperately, in spite of everything.

‘Do not speak nonsense,’ Eustace snapped. ‘They are my children. They will remain at Raven Hall, and so will you. Confound it, I cannot hear myself think with that din!’

He strode over to the crib and, before Rosa realised what he was going to do, he reached in and pinched Ada hard on the arm. Her plaintive wail for attention immediately transformed into a frightened scream of pain.

It was a ghastly sound – one that Rosa had never heard her make before. It felt like a knife passing through her gut and she gasped, but the air was suddenly too thin and her heart seemed to clench and cramp, making her entire chest ache. She snapped her fingers and the raven on her shoulder flew at Eustace, its metal talons going straight for his eyes so that he staggered back with a yell and had to put up his hands to protect them.

Rosa hurried straight to the crib and snatched up Ada. She rocked her daughter in a futile effort to soothe her, but her small body was rigid, her arms flailed, her face was scarlet. Tears streamed down her round cheeks and she continued to scream so loudly that Rosa had to raise her own voice to be heard above it.

‘I will not remain in this house with you another day!’