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B y early afternoon, Arabella found she couldn’t take being in the house alone for another minute.

It was just too much. The worries over what would happen when William came home.

The fear of what he might be doing out of the house right now.

The lingering question at the back of her mind, one she couldn’t escape no matter how hard she tried—was he planning on coming back home at all?

Or was this the last she would ever see of her husband?

Would she receive a letter telling her that he had had enough and that it was time for her to leave Redmayne?

Thoughts competed for dominance in her mind

I shouldn’t have been so harsh toward him. I shouldn’t have been so insistent. He was very clear with me about what he wanted out of this marriage, and I should have just accepted that right from the start instead of trying to change things.

But she couldn’t bring herself to regret the things she’d said to him. Even if it meant the end of her marriage. She hated the thought, but she couldn’t have lied to him any long. It would have driven her mad.

Of course, staying in this house and waiting to see what would happen next was also going to drive her mad.

Little though she wanted to spend any further time with her family, after what had taken place between them the last time they had been together, she knew she needed to be somewhere other than here—and where else could she go on short notice?

She had a carriage readied, and in a matter of minutes, she was on her way to Highgate.

It was a fine day outside, so it shouldn’t have surprised her to find that her sisters were in the garden when she arrived—and yet, somehow, it did.

Things had been so distressing lately that she had forgotten life was going on without her here.

Or rather, she had remembered her sisters but only in terms of what they needed from her.

She had pictured them sitting in darkened rooms, wringing their hands and worrying about money the way she always did when they came into her mind.

To see them out in the sun… it made her happy, of course, because they were her sisters, and she loved them.

But at the same time, it almost offended her.

I’ve been putting myself through all this fear and worry, and everyone here is fine? Nobody is worrying at all? Perhaps they won’t care if my marriage does fall apart. Why should it bother them?

That was an unfair and unworthy thought, and she dismissed it quickly. She didn’t want her sisters to live in fear of losing their newfound comfort. She was glad they had found happiness. That was what she was doing all this for.

They looked up as she was helped out of the carriage, and she saw the moment their faces lit up. It warmed her heart, and she felt better than she had in days as the two of them raced to her side and flung their arms around her.

“Arabella, you’re here!” Prudence said. “We had no idea you were coming for a visit today! How lovely!”

“I didn’t know either,” Arabella confessed. “It was a last-minute decision.”

Caroline was watching her closely. “Are you all right?” she asked.

She’d always been the most perceptive in the family, Arabella recalled.

It was a relief to be back in the company of people who were so familiar to her.

For the first time, she felt conscious of how difficult it had been to get along with William—and the fact that it probably wasn’t her fault.

They simply didn’t know one another that well.

Of course, it wouldn’t be easy for them. That made perfect sense.

“Are Mother and Father at home?” she asked her sisters.

If Caroline noticed that her question had gone unanswered—and she probably did; she noticed everything—she didn’t mention it. “They’re inside,” she said. “We were about to have a picnic, but perhaps we should take you in.”

“No, join us for our picnic,” Prudence insisted. “There’s more than enough for all three of us, and it’s been ever so long since we all had a picnic together. We should take advantage of the fact that you’re here.”

Arabella smiled. “Perhaps I’ll join you in a while,” she said. “I want to go inside and relax, at least for a little while.”

“Oh, but?—”

“No, we understand,” Caroline interjected, putting a hand on Prudence’s arm. “Of course, you’d want some quiet time to yourself, Arabella. You should go on in. Mother and Father would like to know that you’re here as well, so you should make sure that you see them.”

“You’re right,” Arabella agreed. “I’ll find you both later, and we can make sure we get the chance to have some fun together while I’m here."

“How long will you be staying?”

“Not long,” Arabella said. “I’m expected home tonight.”

“You don’t think William would allow you to stay overnight with us? We’d like to have you here,” Prudence said. “Perhaps we can send him a message letting him know that you’re here so that he won’t worry, and then you can stay.”

Arabella smiled fondly at her sister. “It does sound lovely,” she said, and she meant it.

It would be much nicer to stay here tonight, with her sisters for company, than it would be to go back to William and force herself to confront the difficulties the two of them were having.

But those things needed to be confronted eventually, and there was nothing to be gained by putting it off.

She would have spoken to him right now if he had left her the option.

But the next time we speak, I’m going to have to prevent myself from arguing with him. I have to at least make an effort to preserve this marriage, even though it seems impossible right now.

She went into the house.

Her parents were both in the sitting room, and she heard their voices wafting toward her the moment she crossed the threshold.

For a moment, she considered going upstairs and taking refuge in the library, avoiding talking to them altogether—but no doubt they would eventually find out she was here, and it would be worse if she had tried to conceal herself from them.

She went into the sitting room. At once, her parents were both on their feet.

“Arabella!” her mother said, hand flying to her heart. “You’re here—what happened? Did your husband send you back?”

Arabella steeled herself. I knew this was going to happen , she reminded herself. I chose to come here even though I knew it would be unpleasant.

“He didn’t send me,” she said. “He doesn’t know I’m here.”

“Oh, Arabella, not again… you can’t keep leaving the house without your husband’s permission. Especially not if your marriage is in trouble,” her mother fretted. “What do you think the Duke is going to say when he finds out what you’ve done?”

“I haven’t done anything,” Arabella said, annoyed. “I came to visit my family. He wasn’t angry with me the last time I did that.”

“But, Arabella, you confessed to me that you were worried he might leave you.”

“ You were the one who said that, not me,” Arabella said. “You put that idea in my head, and I haven’t been able to let go of it since the last time we spoke. It’s been nothing but harmful to me, Mother, and I don’t wish to hear speculations like that again.”

“It’s my duty to tell you when you’re doing things that put the family at risk,” her mother lectured. “You’re still my child.”

“Hold on,” Arabella’s father interjected. “What’s all this about your marriage being in danger, Arabella? Is there something the matter between you and your husband?”

“It’s nothing for you to worry about, Father,” Arabella said quickly.

“She’s afraid she might be losing the Duke’s interest,” Arabella’s mother said. “I told her to do her duty and provide him an heir.”

“Well, your mother has a point,” Arabella’s father said. “Every man wishes for a son.”

There was something pointed in the way he said it, and Arabella saw the color rise in her mother’s cheeks. She frowned. “What about you, Father? You haven’t got a son.”

“I never knew I needed an heir,” her father said. “I didn’t know that I would have a title until it was too late to consider the need for a son. But don’t ever doubt for a moment that I wish I had had one.”

Arabella felt a sick twist in her stomach.

What her father was saying made sense, of course, but it also hurt.

She could remember what it had been like before they had come to live here at Highgate.

Their lives had been so different. They’d been happy.

Her father had been a kind and loving presence in her life, and she would never have imagined that he could be anything less than overjoyed with his three daughters.

But would he have been happier now if one of them was a son?

Her mother couldn’t possibly be hearing all this for the first time. She must have known that her husband felt this way. And for the first time, Arabella began to understand her mother’s perspective, the reason she’d been so adamant about Arabella going home and providing an heir.

She wants to make sure I don’t suffer the same as she has. Father has made her feel bad about the fact that she never gave him a son, and she doesn’t want to see me in the same position.

Even though it had hurt her, she understood now—her mother cared for her. That was all it had ever been. Her mother had been trying to let her know that she was loved and to help her protect herself.

Maybe she had gone about it the wrong way, but at the very least, it made sense.

“I just need an afternoon away,” she said, addressing her mother—ignoring her father.

“William isn’t at home anyway, and I’m sure I’ll be back before he gets there.

I want to spend some time with my sisters, some time away from my worries about my marriage.

And I’m determined to do so, in fact, so if you don’t allow me to do it here, I’ll just have to find somewhere else to spend my day. ”

“Of course, you should stay,” her mother said quickly. “Your sisters are outside. I’m sure you saw them on the way in.”

“If things are bad at home, then I really think—” her father started.

But her mother cut him off. “I’m sure Arabella knows what she’s doing,” she said firmly. “And we have to trust her. She’s our daughter, but she is also a duchess in her own right. She no longer requires our guidance in everything she does.”

Arabella was pleasantly shocked by her mother’s turn.

She had half-expected to be sent straight home the moment she had faced her parents, and to have one of them intercede on her behalf was something she had not prepared for.

For the first time in a long time, it felt as though someone was taking care of her.

She smiled her thanks at her mother, turned, and went back outside to let her sisters know that she would be able to spend the day with them.

Hopefully, a day with Prudence and Caroline would be just what she needed to confront her relationship with William once and for all.