He had not been back to Raven Hall since the day Eustace had ordered him out, although he had continued to send orchids from time to time. Rosa understood that his work for Beatrice had kept him very busy during the past year.

‘I can continue to have orchids shipped to you, if you like,’ James offered.

Rosa nodded dumbly.

‘And I wish you luck for the competition, of course.’

Rosa was startled. ‘You know about it?’

‘Beatrice told me.’

Rosa’s eyes slid to Jani, wondering how much she might be aware of.

‘Jani knows all about it too,’ James said quietly. ‘She has been to the Winter Garden.’

‘You have?’

‘Many years ago,’ Jani replied. ‘As a child.’

Rosa felt another surge of jealousy. What made Jani so special that the garden had appeared to her when it had never shown itself to Rosa?

‘Did you …’ She licked her lips, which were suddenly dry. ‘Did you ever see a carousel there?’

‘James told me about your Carousel of Icicles,’ Jani replied. Rosa flushed, wondering what else he had told her. ‘I never saw anything like that in the garden.’

Rosa thought briefly of asking Jani the same favour she had asked of Beatrice – to tell her all that she knew about the garden and the Spider Queen – but what good would it do? James had already told her that they had met through Beatrice, and so Jani’s loyalty would surely lie there.

Before they could continue their conversation, a bell chimed somewhere to signal that the allotted hour had come to an end.

‘It was good to see you,’ James said.

‘And you. Oh, and I wanted to say thank you. For the mourning orchid. It … it was a great comfort to me.’

He looked at her, and for a moment she felt as if she was back there in the graveyard, taking the seed from him in the snow, feeling the warmth of it through her glove.

‘I am glad,’ he said. ‘Truly. I hope Ada is well?’

Rosa smiled at him, pleased that he had remembered her name. ‘She is no longer a baby. She has grown into a darling little girl.’

She gestured with her hands as she spoke, and James’s eye fell on the teacup. A faint frown line appeared between his eyes.

‘You have been invited to the supper booths,’ he said.

‘Yes.’

He hesitated. ‘A word of caution,’ he said. ‘Do not go into the plum rain. Whatever you see there … cannot be unseen.’

Rosa had no idea what he was talking about, but was unable to question him further. The apple trees were moving around, shepherding people out of the garden and there was one on their path that was most insistent. So Rosa said goodbye with a heavy heart. As she walked back towards the entrance gates, she tried not to dwell on the fact that this was probably the last time she would ever see James.