Perhaps she only needed to explain to him how wretched she felt and he would be utterly appalled and would probably apologise profusely. She could see it in her mind’s eye already. He would be quite bereft at the idea that he had hurt her, however unintentionally. Rosa would be gracious in her forgiveness, and things between them would change for the better. Yes, surely this was the solution.

Before she had time to second-guess herself, she went down the corridor to Eustace’s study and knocked on the door. He called for her to enter, and she stepped inside to see him answering correspondence at his desk.

‘Rosa,’ Eustace said, looking up. ‘Is everything all right?’

‘No.’ She forced herself to say the word. ‘It isn’t. I need to speak with you.’

Eustace laid down his pen at once. ‘But what is amiss?’

She cleared her throat, summoning her courage. ‘I am unhappy.’

There. She had said it. The words could not be undone. And just as she had imagined, Eustace was staring at her with an appalled expression. ‘I am dismayed to hear this,’ he said quietly. ‘Why on earth did you not speak to me sooner? Whatever it is that you lack, you have only to tell me and I will see to it at once.’

Rosa felt a sudden giddy relief at his words, but was suddenly unsure how to express the problem delicately.

‘Is the house not to your liking?’ Eustace went on, speaking too quickly for her to have the chance to respond. ‘Has one of the servants been impudent? Is your pin-money not sufficient? I’m sure we could increase it slightly.’

Rosa felt a deep flush spread across her cheeks. ‘It is nothing of that sort,’ she said.

‘Then what?’

He spoke with such utter incomprehension that Rosa felt the old fear flare up inside her again.

One of us is surely mad.

Could it be me?

But surely he must know? He simply had to be aware of how wretched he made her feel in the chilly silence of the night. If nothing else, he must feel how tense she was, he must notice when she flinched. There had even been the occasional sob that she had been unable to stifle.

She took a deep breath. ‘I am referring to the way you treat me in the bedroom.’

Eustace’s eyes widened slightly. Her words seemed to suck all the oxygen from the room, leaving her light-headed. Eustace had gone completely still, staring at her with an unreadable expression. The silence stretched on and on, until Rosa thought she would not be able to bear it a moment longer.

‘How dare you, madam,’ Eustace finally said, his voice dreadfully quiet. ‘Have you no delicacy of mind? No well-bred woman would dream of speaking of such matters. I will overlook this just once, in recognition of the fact that your condition may have caused you to become hysterical.’