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“No, no, Mary, go and feed her, before she starts eating my gown.” I waved them off, then looked back down at the jewellery box. “What did you get me then, darling?” I popped it open, and gave a short gasp. “Oh Azriel, it’s beautiful!” I ran my finger over the enormous teardrop-shaped green stone, dangling from a necklace set with glittering diamonds. “Wherever did you get it?”

“This one belonged to my mother,” Azriel said, unclasping the necklace I was already wearing and laying it on the dressing table. “A Colombian emerald, handed down to her by her mother, who was given it by her mother, and so on.” He took the necklace from the box, and placed it around my neck, his fingers running over my skin, and he kissed the back of my neck. “It is only fitting that it now goes to you.”

“Thank you.” I ran my fingers over the stones, and marvelled at them in the mirror. “I think it’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever owned.”

“It is indeed.” Azriel’s blue eyes blazed in the mirror as they met mine, and a flush rose in my cheeks.

“If you continue to look at me like that, we will never leave this house and we will miss the party.”

Azriel’s arms wrapped around my waist, and he kissed along my shoulder. “That would, on the whole, not be such a terrible thing, would it?”

I giggled, running my hands over his arms. “I am sure they would be wondering where we are.”

“They can all go to hell.” His mouth roved up my throat,sending a delicious shiver down my spine, and I trembled as his fingers dug into the lace neckline of my dress.

“Azriel, we shall be late.”

He growled against my skin. “I’ll be sure to make you pay for delaying my pleasure later.”

“You may punish me as much as you like.” I turned around in his arms, and grinned up at him. “But for now, I want to dance and dance, all night.”

“Very well, beloved.” He kissed the tip of my nose. “Let us go then.”

The Granthams’house lay in Highgate Hill, a short distance north of us, and it was lit up like a beacon when we turned down their drive. Carriages milled around the front entrance, wheels immersed in the deep snow, and the wind was icy as I descended the steps onto the frozen ground.

Azriel ushered me inside, and butlers at the door took our coats. Music wafted through the house, and I balked for a moment at being amongst quite so many people. As though he could sense my discomfort, Azriel tucked my arm under his, and gave me a furtive side smile.

“Head up, Mrs Caine,” he murmured. “You are not alone, remember that.”

I nodded, and took a deep breath before he escorted me into the ballroom. All the light being cast from the house appeared to be coming from this very room, filled with a raucous throng of people, laughing and celebrating and almost drowning out the music. But it was warm inside, almost oppressively so, and made the chill in my bones abate, and perhaps a little of my fear, too.

“If anyone was wondering where the high society of London is, I think they’ve all landed here tonight,” I said witha chuckle, unfolding my fan and waving it, trying to create some sort of breeze in the hot, overcrowded room.

“The Granthams’ parties are somewhat infamous,” Azriel replied, leaning down to be heard. “Too much drink, too much noise, and altogether too much debauchery.”

I giggled behind my fan, my anxiety giving way to a pleasant eruption of butterflies in my stomach. I was at a real party, and a furtive glance around the room told me that no one was shooting daggers in our direction, too lost in frivolity were they to even care that Mr and Mrs Caine had arrived. It was so different to the church, and my shoulders relaxed, my jaw unclenching, and I let out another soft giggle as Azriel kissed my cheek.

“Caine!” Lord Grantham approached us, his cheeks ruddy, betraying just how much he’d already had to drink. His slightly unsteady gaze went from Azriel to me and back again, and he smiled widely. “You made it!”

“Wouldn’t miss it for the world,” Azriel said, and I suppressed a laugh. “Happy New Year.”

Grantham took his proffered hand and shook it enthusiastically. “And to you too, my good fellow.”

“Is your wife in attendance this evening?” I asked, and at that moment a loud, almost cackling laugh echoed behind me, and a woman in a blue and white gown, her round belly visible underneath layers of lace, took Grantham’s arm.

“Good evening!” Lady Grantham’s face was flushed, her eyes bright, her reddish hair hanging in curls from underneath a complicated array of feathers on her head. “I have been ever so eager to meet you!”

“My dear, Mr and Mrs Azriel Caine,” Grantham said, patting his wife’s hand. “I talked them into coming.”

“I am so glad you did!” Lady Grantham exclaimed. “Honestly, I told Edward, did I not my dear? I told him that we simply had to have you here.”

“We are honoured, madam.” I dipped my head to her.

“Oh, it is I who am honoured!” Lady Grantham held a hand to her chest, and huffed out a breath. “Honestly, the two of you, what a love story! Like Romeo and Juliet!”

Azriel smiled down at me. “With a much happier ending, one hopes.”

Lady Grantham let out another loud, garbling laugh, and slapped her husband in the chest. “Oh, but he is funny, isn’t he?” She ran a hand over her belly as she looked back at me. “I convinced my doctors to let me stay out of confinement just for this party, and I am so glad I did. Meeting you two was all worth it.”