‘They are finished, sir!’ Rosa was trembling from head to foot, only it wasn’t from fear this time, but from some other strange tangle of emotions. Exultation perhaps, and triumph, and a bitter sort of heartache. ‘If you ever lay a finger on me, you will have the ravens to answer to.’

The bird shuffled on their various perches, eyes red as devils as they cocked their dark heads this way and that, listening to every word. The soft click and whir of clockwork filled the room.

‘I have designed them to rip out a man’s throat in one go,’ Rosa said. ‘And to attack the eyes. This is the last time you will see them assembled together, but you will always know that they are here, inside the house, or out in the grounds, watching you. Do not think of trying to hunt them, because even if you manage to catch one or two, you’ll never get them all. If you have me locked away, they will come for you. They are programmed to have but one purpose, and can travel over many miles. They do not need to sleep or eat. They would find you, no matter where in the world you might go.’

She snapped her fingers again, and the ravens disappeared up through the chimney – all except one, which remained perched on Rosa’s shoulder.

‘Now,’ she said quietly, ‘get out of my bedroom. And leave that key where it is.’

Even now she had not been quite sure that it would work, but to her delight Eustace stood up, making no move to touch her. He no longer looked quite so handsome, with a torn face and bald patches where the ravens had attacked his scalp. He turned and walked towards the door without a word.

‘Oh, and those conjoined twins,’ Rosa said. ‘Did you instruct them to say those things to me? About tigers and twins and winter gardens?’

Eustace didn’t turn round. ‘I have not the faintest idea,’ he said, ‘what you are raving about. They were performers, hired to entertain. I thought they would please you. That is all.’

He walked out, closing the door quietly behind him. Rosa tried to feel a sense of triumph. She had played his dreadful game, and she had won. An ugly dawn light was creeping into the room and she was exhausted in every limb, so she locked the door, drew across the drapes and fell into bed, safe in the knowledge that her raven kept watch from the top of her four-poster.