Rosa doubted that was entirely true, but she crossed the room to take both Beatrice’s hands in hers anyway. ‘Honey, it is so good to see you. I can’t tell you how much I have missed having an intelligent and interesting friend to call upon.’

She hadn’t quite realised the truth of her words until that moment, but it struck her quite forcibly now. The women in the circles in which she moved were all so dull to her, not to mention gossipy, judgemental and snobbish.

Beatrice flushed slightly and looked embarrassed, but she squeezed Rosa’s hands in return. ‘I f-feel the s-same.’

‘You are not too dreadfully shocked at my visiting you in this state, I hope?’ Rosa gestured to her belly, feeling the need to acknowledge it in some way.

Beatrice frowned. ‘Wh-Why should I b-be? P-Pregnancy is p-p-perfectly natural. And c-congratulations. Of c-course.’

Rosa gave a tight smile.

‘P-Please t-take a s-seat,’ Beatrice said. ‘I w-will r-ring for t-tea.’

Rosa waited until it had been served before launching straight into the matter of the Winter Garden. She told Beatrice about how the Carousel of Icicles had appeared, first in the pages of her own workbook and then in the pop-up book.

‘So, you see, I believe you about the garden,’ Rosa said. ‘I believe that you visited it as a child and, honey, I’m just desperate to hear all that you know about the carousel.’

Beatrice looked up from her teacup. ‘B-but there w-was no c-carousel. N-Not that I s-saw.’

‘Oh.’ Rosa had not expected this and found herself flailing for an explanation. ‘But how can that be? Was the garden very large? Might it have been tucked away in a corner you didn’t see?’

‘It is p-possible.’ Beatrice looked up at her. ‘The g-garden was … n-not b-big, but n-not s-small, either.’ She shook her head. ‘It is d-difficult to explain. In the g-garden th-there was f-forever the s-sense of unseen w-wonders. Hiding. In the. Trees.’

‘So you can tell me nothing about the carousel at all?’

Beatrice shook her head. Rosa set down her teacup with a clatter, trying to master her disappointment.

‘Wh-why does it m-matter to y-you?’ Beatrice asked. ‘S-Surely you h-have n-nothing you w-wish to ch-change?’

‘Darling, everyone has something they wish to change,’ Rosa said, purposely keeping her voice light.

‘But you are h-happy?’ Beatrice pressed. ‘At R-Raven Hall?’

‘Oh, divinely,’ Rosa said briskly. ‘It is only that I should like to make my own carousel, you see. Just like the one in the book. It would be quite the marvel, would it not? I’m an artificer, after all, and the Carousel of Icicles sounds like quite the challenge. But if you haven’t seen it, then you cannot help me, so I guess I’ll have to figure it out by myself.’

Beatrice looked as if she might be about to ask further questions, so Rosa hurriedly changed the subject.