‘You need some time away, Zillah. I’ll take you to the countryside and you can forget all about your wretched act. How does that sound?’

It sounded perfect. A day away from Crillick’s would do me good. I’d never been to the country before. Maybe it would be just like the scenes on the painted boards I sat before in my dressing room.

‘Could we go to a meadow? Somewhere with flowers and a stream?’ It wasn’t exactly the best time of year for it but even so I could picture us there.

‘Flowers, a stream. I might even be able to rustle up a folly for you.’ Vincent was nuzzling my ear. Thoroughly sated, he was in the mood to grant me anything.

‘We could get a steamer to take us out eastwards. We could sail along the River Lea.’

Vincent stopped abruptly.

‘Why there?’

I’d said something amiss, I could tell from his tone. I turned around, but he looked away stony-faced.

‘Ellen said she was going to ask Crillick to take her out that way, that’s all. She went once before. We don’t have to go there. We could go to Richmond instead, or the gardens at Kew.’ I was gabbling in my haste to undo whatever it was that I’d done wrong. ‘You should choose where we go, Vincent, I’m sorry.’

When he heard the catch in my voice, his eyes softened.

‘There’s no need to apologise, Zillah. I just don’t like that part of London. I’ve made it a rule never to go there. Richmond is best. The air on that side of town is sweeter and there are deer in the park.’

He lay back down again. When I nestled into him, he put his arm around me, but made no attempt to break the silence. That was fine by me. I wasn’t going to risk saying the wrong thing again.

I slept fitfully – perhaps it was no wonder after all that had happened. Lucien Winters had put me off my stroke and then things had gone downhill from there. Crillick back, and then Vincent making strange. It was all too much.