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He bent one knee, resting his arm across the top of it.

‘The position of the gardens is perfect, not so close to the Thames as to be constantly worried about flooding but close enough to be able to transport heavy goods there using the river. The gardens have been left to rot, which is not ideal, but it does mean that I can stamp my own design on the space. The size of the grounds is exactly right. There is a section where…’ He faded off.

‘Sorry, I am being very tedious. You do not want to hear me ramble on about sunlight and drainage. You had enough of that with Baron Mothchild.’ He winked at her; she could almost see him switching from serious to his playful character.

It wasn’t true; she was fascinated and it had nothing to do with the topic. The Freddie before her now was so different from the superficial man she thought she knew. ‘Not at all, do carry on.’

But she could tell that she had already lost him. ‘It is a dream,’ he said dismissively. ‘One that probably will not happen; you know what I am like.’

‘No,’ she said slowly, ‘I do not think I do. ’

He turned to look at her; the morning sun streaming through the window highlighted the length of his dark lashes.

There was only silence where there would normally have been a teasing comment or rolled eyes.

Neither of them said anything as something fluttery unfurled in Emily’s stomach, something that appeared to take flight and set off around her body, making her tremble once more.

She longed to reach out and trace the length of his fingers to see whether the skin of his hands was as hard as it looked.

In the periphery of Emily’s vision, she could make out Lotte coming back towards them, but she couldn’t tear her gaze away from the man in front of her.

She had no idea what was happening to them, no idea when finding out what made the man tick became so important to her, but it was getting harder and harder to dismiss him as a frivolous fool.

Freddie jumped as a large book was thrown onto his unbent leg.

‘Book,’ said Lotte as she followed it by climbing onto her uncle’s lap and resting her head on his chest. ‘Read story.’

Freddie’s face shuttered; any vulnerability or openness she thought she’d seen went completely as he picked up the book as if it were poisonous. Lotte took it from him and opened it randomly. ‘You like, is good.’ She snuggled closer, sticking her thumb in her mouth, waiting for Freddie to begin.

The colour leached from Freddie’s face, his gaze flicking over the page but not landing on any of the words. That’s when the truth hit Emily with all the force of a galloping horse.

Freddie couldn’t read.

No wonder he didn’t like books. She didn’t understand the how or the why of it.

She knew he’d had an education; he’d gone to school like the rest of the Dashworth brothers.

She’d been angry that he kept wasting it by not paying proper attention.

Previously, she’d have believed it was something he had done on purpose, but she could see from the panic in his eyes that his lack was causing him great discomfort.

Maybe there was something wrong with his eyesight.

Maybe the person who had tried to teach him had failed in some fundamental way.

Whatever the reason, Emily knew she would do anything to ease his horror.

‘May I read the story, Lotte?’

Lotte nodded. Emily slid the book from Freddie’s lap, her fingers brushing against the material clinging to his legs as she did so.

She ignored the tiny explosions that went off in her hand as she moved away.

She had not touched Freddie’s skin and so the reaction was ridiculous.

She flexed her fingers a few times, willing them to stop their shaking.

She was going to have to turn the pages in front of Freddie and it would not do her any good if he could see them trembling like this.

She turned to a page. ‘Look at this ferocious bear.’ She turned the book so Lotte could see the picture.

‘Look how long his claws are and at his big pointy teeth. Now everyone was scared of him because of the way he looked, but he had a deep secret he told nobody. He was afraid of… spiders. The tiny little creatures who like to spin webs to catch people unaware. He was so scared, his blood would start wobbling even if he saw one that was no bigger than a pinprick.’ Lotte’s eyes widened.

‘One day, he was walking in the woods, scaring all the people who dared to step near any of his trees when…’

She carried on making up the story as she went along, making it obvious to Freddie that she wasn’t reading the words from the page, that he could pick up any book and make a story from the pictures he saw.

She hoped that he wouldn’t withdraw from her, that their growing closeness wouldn’t come to an end now that she knew another one of his secrets.

From the pale colour of his skin and the way his eyes were fixed on a point above her shoulder, she didn’t hold out much hope and her heart ached at the thought that whatever it was that was starting between them might already be at an end.