‘Well, what else would you call it? You are fond of referring to our marriage as a business arrangement. You got the title. I was supposed to get an heir.’

‘You got my millions—’ Rosa began.

‘Useless!’ He cut her off. ‘I am not one of these debauched noblemen up to his eyes in debt, and I did not marry you for your money. I have fortune enough of my own. I wanted a wife who would provide me with a son. That was the bargain we made at the altar. You said your vows that day knowing what marriage entailed, I suppose? If you had no intention of playing your part, then you had no right to accept my proposal.’

‘But I did intend to play my part,’ Rosa replied. To her fury, she felt sudden tears prickle the backs of her eyes. ‘I was happy and excited and looking forward to being your wife. If you had only been kinder, and gentler—’

‘So the blame is all mine. Of course. I tried to love you.’ A thin, whiny note crept into his voice and he looked at her with an expression that was both beseeching and bitter. ‘You cannot deny that.’

He reached out suddenly and Rosa flinched back.

‘It is not enough,’ she said. ‘Whatever small kindnesses you might have shown me were only to get me to do what you want – to behave, and speak, and dress as you wish me to. You care nothing for whether I am happy, or fulfilled, or content with my life. And therefore all your so-called considerations are worthless, Eustace. Just dust and ash in a long-cold hearth.’

‘What a wretched, unnatural female you are,’ Eustace said.

But his words did not have the power to hurt her any longer, and Rosa did not bother to respond as she went past him and up the stairs.

‘I heard from Mother today.’

His words made her stop instantly.

‘And?’ she said.

‘Ada is unwell.’

Rosa spun round. ‘What do you mean, “unwell”?’

‘It sounds as if she is even more stubborn and bad-tempered than usual. She has been refusing to eat. She cries for you incessantly. She has made herself ill.’

Rosa took a deep breath and clenched her hands together. This was unbearable. She would surely go mad.

‘Ada needs me,’ she said. ‘She is not a bad girl – simply spirited. I’m the only one who understands her.’