Eustace smiled as he raised his own plum to his lips and took a bite. Purple juice stained the ends of the blond moustache that Rosa had once thought so dashing. There was a single moment of breathlessness, as when a child draws in air to scream. Then Eustace’s pupils dilated and he leapt to his feet, staggering blindly backwards as the plum fell into the snow.

‘Good God!’ he gasped. ‘What … what devilry is this?’

All around them other guests were having a similar reaction to the fruit. Rosa heard cries of dismay and voices raised in complaint. Several young women wept into their teacups. One gentleman used his knife to cut the stone from his plum, only to find that it was perfectly ordinary.

‘It only works if you eat the entire plum, sir,’ the footman said.

‘But it isn’t possible!’ the guest exclaimed. ‘No one could eat the whole thing. Nobody!’

Indeed, none of the guests returned for a second bite. Except for Rosa. She took a deep breath and reached out for her plum.

‘My good woman, you cannot be serious?’ Lord Broderick stared at her. His own plum lay discarded before him, without a single bite taken from it. One tentative lick of the purple skin had been enough to make him roar in protest.

Eustace turned his incredulous gaze on her too. ‘Don’t be a fool,’ he said in a low voice.

‘Just because you lack the strength,’ she said, ‘doesn’t mean I do too.’

She raised the plum and bit into it – an even bigger mouthful than before. She was prepared for the taste this time, yet her eyes watered and, when she forced the fruit down, she thought it surely could not have been harder to swallow a lump of human flesh. It was dreadful. Unspeakable.

To her dismay, Eustace picked up his own fallen plum and resumed his seat opposite her. He took another bite, so Rosa did as well. They stared at each other across the table. It was now a battle of wills between them – the only two people in the supper booths who were attempting to persevere at all. Lord and Lady Broderick watched them in fascinated horror, and other guests soon gathered around their table too.

Eating that plum was one of the hardest things Rosa had ever had to do. Childbirth could hardly compare with it. If it weren’t for Eustace, she probably would have given up, but if he was going to keep going, then by God, so was she.

Keep fighting …

Purple juice ran down their fingers, too sticky and too sweet. They both gagged more than once. Several times Rosa thought she could not go on. Yet the plum disappeared, bit by bit.