Vincent’s smile when he glanced up and saw me gave me the courage to walk into the room. I knew I looked well in my new pink carriage coat and the expression on his face confirmed it. He’d bought me this, and an emerald hairpin, in the last few days. He always chose bright colours for me because he said they set off the shine of my skin. I wasn’t sure about that but maybe I didn’t need to worry about the effect that Crillick’s return would have on him as much as I had. It was clear he wanted me just as much as ever. Our trip to Richmond could be another step forward in our relationship. It was there in Vincent’s eyes as he stood up to pull out a chair for me.

‘Good morning,’ he said out loud as I sat down, and then, a little quieter so only I could hear him, ‘my exotic princess.’

The paper Crillick and Vincent had been looking at was almost see-through. It took up practically the whole of the table and was covered in the sort of neatly ruled lines you only get with a sharpened pencil. Squares, triangles and one or two words. I twisted my neck trying to read them upside down but Crillick saw me and rolled the paper up, tying it tightly with a piece of black ribbon. He wagged a finger at me.

‘All in good time,’ he said. As if I should care what was on it.

Vincent summoned the butler with the merest nod of his head. I’d been on the receiving end of a gesture like that myself once or twice. That was how they got things done, the rich: all nods and winks. Vincent could achieve more by raising an eyebrow than I could’ve done with an army at my command. I determined to enjoy the bowing and scraping from Sikkings, however grudging it was. Might as well make the most of it, especially if it wasn’t going to last too much longer. I moved my elbows off the table as Sikkings laid a place for me: napkin, knives, forks and spoons one after another.

‘Just tea,’ I told him, when he offered me a drink. He was lucky I wasn’t petty; it would have served him right if I’d been demanding all sorts, seeing how it galled him to treat me like a lady.

Smoked salmon, cold ham, eggs and a wooden board of cheeses, and all before ten o’clock. There was something shocking in such a feast. Back in St Giles I would have eked out this amount of food for a week, but Crillick wasn’t one to do things by halves. I helped myself and let the talk between him and Vincent wash over me.