Sunlight danced across the bedroom wall and down onto the bed. Eve turned away from the light and curled under the sheets, refusing to believe it was morning. A dark shape crossed in front of the window, then sat on the bed next to her.

"Good morning," said Raoul brightly. Eve groaned and hid further under the sheets. "The girls have already left with Justine. I assume you are going to church today." Eve sat up awkwardly and grimaced at Raoul. She felt nauseous, but dismissed this as the result of too much wine the night before.

"How long have we got?"

"An hour. I sent the girls via the river so they could pick flowers to put on Pierre's grave." Eve dragged herself out of bed and over to her washstand, where Raoul had laid out fresh towels and a warm pitcher of water. She quickly washed and found a dress suitable for church. It had been three months since their marriage, and nine since her first visit to Burgundy. She appeared in front of Raoul, twirling for his approval. He nodded. "Perfect – let's go."

As Lord and Lady Tremaine, Raoul and Eve possessed their own pew at the local church. The girls and Justine sat with them, close to the front of the church and most importantly close to the king. Eve was impressed with Raoul's influence within court – in the three months they had been married, they had been invited to meet with the Privy Council twice and dine with the king and his guests a further four times. She hoped that her elevated status would allow her daughters to one day marry a noble – perhaps one of those spotty-faced youths even now sitting in their vicinity. Eve looked across to her left at Cinderella, singing perfectly with her hymnbook held prettily in front of her. To Cinderella's left was Drizella, trying to drown out her stepsister with her usual tuneless droning. Eve knew that she would have to work hard with Drizella to improve her singing voice. Anastasia, next to Drizella, was mouthing the words to the hymn, barely making a sound. How typical that Cinderella would have the best voice, thought Eve. She and Raoul had promised each other not to compare their children, but Eve knew that Cinderella was a prettier child than either of her daughters and her perfect singing voice was one more reason to be envious of her. Eve knew that any suitor she picked out for Drizella or Anastasia in the future would need to be kept clear of Cinderella, lest they fall for the flaxen-haired beauty.

On the walk home, Justine held Cinderella's hand as she skipped along, singing again. Eve had tried to like the girl but had found her far too sweet for her taste. Eve remembered a night at the palace when Cinderella's habit of making friends with the servants had proved embarrassing as they had lost the girl halfway through the evening. A search was begun, only for Cinderella to be found in the kitchen with the cook, drinking a glass of milk and looking happier than she had all night. Raoul had found this highly amusing of course, while Eve had endured the scathing glares of the nobility who had been forced to search for the girl on the king's command. Typically, by the end of the night all gathered had proclaimed Cinderella a 'treasure' and she was fussed and cosseted by most of the ladies of the court. Anastasia and Drizella had spent the night practising how to stand correctly and swanning around the ballroom, trying to engage other children in polite conversation. They had made a few friends – hopefully one day these may prove useful. Eve turned her attention to the young girls walking in front of her. At the moment, Cinderella was skipping along the road, holding tightly onto Justine's hand. Drizella and Anastasia marched along behind, trying to imitate their mother's perfect posture and faultless grace of moment – they were failing spectacularly. Raoul walked behind with Eve, her arm in his.

"After all, the girls will be spending the afternoon with Justine for their bible studies," said Raoul.

"I'm sorry?" replied Eve, jerked out of her train of thought.

"Have you heard a word I've said?"

"No, sorry. I was thinking of something else. Please repeat what you said."

"I need to go through some paperwork with you this afternoon regarding the farms in Burgundy. The King is agreed that I am more useful to him at court, so my cousin will take charge of the Burgundy estates in exchange for a reasonable sum of money. I want us both to go through the paperwork, hence we need some peace and..."

"And the girls will be with Justine. Are you sure you want to give up Burgundy?"

"Yes. We'll retain our titles, but remain in town and we will not have to travel out to Burgundy every few months. It's better for the girls and we should have more time together."

"I'll help you later. I need to rest when we get home – I'm a little tired."

"Are you quite well?"

"Yes, of course!" snapped Eve. Raoul gave her a look, questioning her response. "I'm just tired. I didn't sleep well last night."

Back at the house, the girls disappeared with Justine. Eve made her way into her bedroom and lay back on the bed. She felt dreadful, her stomach reeling. She twisted to loosen her dress and stood to untie her corset. Almost immediately she felt her stomach recoil and kneeled over, grabbing at the pitcher from the washstand to vomit into. Feeling worse, she rang for a servant. The maid arrived moments later and helped Eve to clean up, Eve changing into her nightgown and laying back on her bed, her head swimming. The maid left to inform Raoul that Eve was unwell and within minutes he appeared at the door.

"What is it darling?"

"Please go away. I can't let you see me like this."

"Too late. Was it something you ate?"

"I hope not – I've felt like this for days."

"I'll call the physician. You should have said earlier."

"I'm fine," snapped Eve, trying to sit up. Her head spun again and she fell back onto the bed.

"Liar."

"It's the sun. I must have been too hot. Please go away."

"I'll go, but the doctor will be here later."

"No..." moaned Eve. "Just leave me here to suffer alone, I don't want anyone." She rested her head against the pillow and closed her eyes. She heard Raoul leave and drifted off to sleep.

Eve woke to the voice of the doctor explaining something to Raoul.

"Due to her age, there may be some complications," whispered the doctor.

"But everything's fine at the moment?" asked Raoul, anxiously.

"Yes. I need to confirm my suspicions with Lady Tremaine – if you could leave us for a moment? I think she's waking up." Raoul left and Eve looked up at the doctor.

"What am I dying of?" asked Eve.

"Nothing. Might I ask when your last bleed was madam?"

"And what had that got to... oh no. Three's enough!"

"When?"

"Two months ago."

"It's quite usual for a woman of your advanced years to feel this way if she should become pregnant. The nausea is quite normal."

"I'm thirty-one, hardly ancient."

"Take things easy and I'll be back in a month." The doctor bowed and turned away from Eve. She closed her eyes and ran a hand over her stomach. She couldn't feel anything different.

"No," she groaned softly. "Not again!"