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Oswald was dressed and stood by the side of the bed. “Come and break your fast with me,” he said, and held out his hand imperiously.

Fen rose at once and he enfolded her in his peacock blue robe and led her into the adjoining shared room.

Meldon was stumping round, setting down plates of food from a tray. “Shall I fetch more?” he asked squinting at them and then the contents of the table.

“I’m sure that’s ample,” said Fen, who wasn’t really hungry. She yawned.

“I should have left you in bed,” said Oswald ruefully. “It’s only that I’m going to be very busy over the next few days.” He hesitated. “With this whole Blechmarsh princess matter coming to a head.”

“Oh,” said Fen, sitting down beside him. She wanted to press him for more details, but did not quite like to.

“I’ll be rising early and returning late.”

Fen’s face fell. “Oh, that’s a shame.”

“It feels like I never get to spend any time alone with you, these days,” he added with a faint frown.

Fen smiled and propped her chin up with her hand. “I’m glad you woke me.”

“Good.” He leaned over and kissed her on the lips.

Meldon cleared his throat disapprovingly as he set down a jug of water and a jug of ale.

“What are you about today?” Oswald asked her, ignoring his manservant.

“Mathilde Martindale said she would accompany me this morning as I sit for Signor Arnotti. We have to finish our tapestry design and I thought I would teach her how to play that card game Livelihoods.”

Oswald nodded, tucking into some toasted bread.

“It’s exceedingly dull sitting on that window seat,” admitted Fen. “If my friends hadn’t rallied around I don’t know what I would have done.”

Oswald took a sip of water. “Hopefully the result will be worth it,” he said.

Fen spared a glance for her adolescent portrait, and heartily seconded that wish. “If it is even half-decent, at least we can consign that other portrait to a dark cupboard,” she said hopefully.

Oswald frowned. “I’m rather fond of that other portrait,” he said, and reached inside his tunic to touch something. Fen remembered his chain and wondered if it was a talisman. “There’s no rule that I can’t have two portraits of my wife, that I’m aware,” he said lightly.

“What about you?” asked Fen. “Are there any boyhood portraits of you at Vawdrey Keep?”

Oswald grimaced. “Good gods, no. My Father was not remotely sentimental. At least, not until old age,” he amended.

Fen felt disappointed. “Perhaps we could have a portrait commissioned of you from Signor Arnotti?” Seeing from his expression that he was not keen on the idea, she added quickly: “A matching portrait?”

“A matched pair of paintings might have merit,” he conceded.

“To hang side-by-side?” suggested Fen.

He smiled at this. “You’re getting rather good at maneuvering me, Wife,” he said, narrowing his eyes.

“Do you think so?” asked Fen wistfully.

He laughed. “Oh I think so.”

Fen smiled. “I don’t know if it’s possible to entirely domesticate a panther,” she joked. He reached across the table and laced their fingers together. “You seem to be managing just fine.”

Really, she chose the stupidest moments to come over shy, Fen thought a full hour later as she reflected on her husband for the hundredth time that day. She unpacked the Livelihood cards, a book of poetry and the preliminary sketches she and Mathilde had put together for their tapestry panel. Mathilde had met her in the West Vestibule and they had taken up the spot by the window where signor Arnotti was hopefully now adding the finishing touches to his latest work. The artist didn’t look any calmer to Fen’s eye, but still wore that habitual half-scowl she was now so accustomed to, as he skulked behind the canvas. Really, she had no notion how Bess could discern anything pleasing about the man’s company! Clearly, poor Bess had never spent time in the company of a truly charming man, such as her own husband. Fen explained to signor Arnotti that she had not been able to bring Bors this morning as he was out with her brother-in-law, but the artist just grunted at this and shrugged so she returned to her friend.

“I thought it might be diverting after we’ve finished our tapestry plan layout, to have a game of cards,” she told Mathilde, after they had enquired politely after the other.