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The sound of Drew’s laughter woke Mary. He was in the sitting room.

She opened her eyes and sat up. Her limbs felt shaky but the headache was better.

The bedchamber was dark, apart from a line of light from a crack where the door had been left ajar.

‘I saw Caro the other night.’ Lord Brooke was here. Andrew must have reconciled with his friend.

‘I am buying her a house,’ Drew told him. ‘I hope to smuggle her away in secret next week. At least it means some good will have come from my marriage, if Mary’s money means Caro is safely settled.’

It is true! He has a mistress! Mary’s empty stomach roiled. She pressed a palm to her mouth and lay back down, afraid of being sick.

She did not cry. The well of her sorrow was dry. She could not continue crying for him forever – nor trying for him.

I will leave.

She could not stay.

Tomorrow, when he rode in the morning, she would leave and this would all be over.