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When Mary woke the grey light said it was barely past dawn. For a moment she thought she was dreaming, but no, Andrew was in bed. He had lain flush against her back, and his palm held her stomach.

She rolled onto her side, looking at him.

He was awake. ‘I love you,’ he said. Speaking as though he had lain there for a long time looking at her. ‘I am sorry I am a fool.’

She had no idea what to say.

‘Has your headache gone?’

She nodded.

He kissed her temple, her cheek and the corner of her lips. He stroked the hair from her forehead. ‘I will do everything I can to show you I love you. I want to be the man you need. I missed you. I missed spending time with you.’

He leaned forward, his lips pursing. She accepted the kiss as his palm rested on her hip.

‘Do you forgive me?’ he asked. ‘May I make love to you?’

She did not answer.

He kissed her again, this time opening his mouth and using his tongue.

He must have assumed her answer was given by the kiss, because his fingers worked up her nightdress. She did not stop him. The thought of him being in her body again aroused her, desire swelling. It had been so long, and this would be the last time she could know him like this.

A moan of surprise slipped from her throat as his fingers touched between her legs.

She had longed to feel adored for all these days he had not come to her bed.

His teeth nipped at her neck.

He does not love me , she told herself. Yet, her body did not care. This had always worked between them, because when he touched her she believed in his love.

She shut her eyes. She should tell him to stop, but she could not. She wanted to know his lovemaking this one last time.

I love him even if he does not love me. Even if it is a lie, it will be precious to me. It would be one last memory to keep hold of.

His fingers slid into her, only for a moment, before he straightened up and stripped off his shirt. She sat up and removed her chemise.

His own personal musky scent hung in the air as he kissed a path down between her breasts and across her stomach. She shut her eyes tight, she did not want to look at his eyes and see the lies they carried.

He caressed the place between her thighs with his tongue and teeth, and she swirled into the little death, her fingers curling in his soft hair. She preserved every feeling to memory, so she could recall this in the years she would spend alone.

When he slid inside her, the moan that came from her throat was half sob.

He withdrew and pressed back in, coupling with her in an enchanting intimate dance.

‘Open your eyes, darling.’

She swallowed back the urge to cry and looked into the shades of amber and honey; not seeing lies there, but love.

He withdrew from her and slid back in, weaving an excruciating bliss into her blood.

‘I love you,’ he said.

You do not!

‘I am such a fool. I will be a better a man, I swear it. We will work things out between us.’

Mary shut her eyes, and let the blissful sensations help her to forget his deceit and betrayal, suspending herself in a moment in time, and expressing her love for him.

As his pace quickened, she clung to his shoulders, her fingertips pressing into his skin at each invasion. It would not be long before she broke again. Her hands ran down his back, feeling the movement of the muscles beneath his skin, reaching to his buttocks. His movement changed from long strokes to a quick pulse. Her thighs clenched as the sound from her mouth became a tremble, and then her conclusion came in a rush.

His muscles locked hard and a deep sound of relief ripped from his throat. Then she could feel him shaking between her thighs. His forehead fell to her shoulder for a moment, and his weight settled more heavily on her.

It was over. She would never know this again.

He withdrew and tumbled onto his back, pulling her on top of him, holding her close.

Her head rested on his chest, in the position she had once thought was heaven.

‘I am sorry I hurt you.’ His voice rumbled in his chest, as his hand stroked across her hair. ‘It will not happen again. It will be different now. I promise. Do not leave me.’

So, that was the reason for this. He was fighting to make her stay. A public separation and divorce would embarrass him. She no longer cared. She planned to go back to her parents’ estate and never come back to London.

But for now… she clung to him and pretended to her heart that he loved her as he whispered false promises and talked of finding a home somewhere quiet in the country.

She did not think he noticed she had not spoken.

But when he rolled her onto her back and leaned to kiss her, as though he would make love again, the time had come to stop dreaming and face what was real.

‘I am hungry, Andrew.’

He smiled. His caring smile – not the roguish one. ‘I am being selfish, keeping you in bed. I have a lot to learn.’ He turned away and threw back the covers. ‘But I shall learn, Mary. I will get your breakfast. Stay here.’

He got up, gloriously naked, his body so beautiful. He pulled on his shirt, then disappeared. He returned with a plate of buttered bread and sliced ham, and a cup of chocolate.

She sat upright and leaned against the bedhead.

‘Would you like to ride with me after breakfast?’ he asked, leaving the room again.

‘No, thank you!’ she called. ‘Milly will help me dress while you are gone!’ And help me leave.

He returned with a full plate for himself and sat at the end of the bed, one knee raised so he faced her, looking as though he had never told a lie in his life.

‘Would you rather I stayed here?’

‘No.’ He had to go out, because she had to leave.

‘Then I will go riding and afterwards we will visit your family, thank them for their advice, and tell them we are very happy.’

As soon as the door closed behind him, she dressed herself, ran downstairs and asked Joseph to send someone to hand a letter to the Duke of Pembroke’s stables. Then she packed the few things she had removed from her trunks.

Four grooms arrived with the cart she had asked them to bring. It was quickly loaded, with the maid’s help too.

Mary placed a note between the chess pieces and looked at Andrew’s rooms one last time. Then she closed the door, locked it and slid the key beneath it.