He lifted his head suddenly. His eyes were blurred with fear and exhaustion, but there was a light of decision in them. "I'll give up my seat in Parliament. We'll go back to the country. We have a house in Dorset. We can do a lot of good there, without ever coming to London again. It's quiet and beautiful, and we can be more than happy. We'll have each other, and that will be enough."

Ridiculously, Hester felt her eyes fill with tears. He must love her so deeply and unquestioningly that all his happiness lay in being with her. His anger had been on her behalf, not against her. Perhaps it was even against himself, because he knew her weakness and had not protected her from it. Would Monk have been as gentle with Hester, as forgiving, as willing to sacrifice? She would probably never know.

"I'm sorry," Applegate apologized. "Would you like something to eat? You must be frozen. It's ... I shouldn't have blamed you. You couldn't guard against something you knew nothing of. Or would you rather simply go home?"

She made herself smile at him. "I think actually I would like to go home and put on some dry clothes. It's been a rotten night." "I'll have my coachman take you," he answered.

Monk flung the front door open almost before the carriage had stopped. When Hester alighted he strode out into the street, disregarding the rain.

"Where have you been?" he demanded. "You're soaked and you look terrible. You were supposed to ..." Then he saw the expression on her face and stopped. "What is it?"

Hester thanked the coachman and went inside. She was shivering again, so she sat down in the chair nearest the fire and huddled into herself. Now that she was no longer faced with Morgan Applegate's grief or Rose's urgent need, a profound sense of defeat settled over her. She wondered how she could ever have been so stupid as to think they could beat such vested interests. Her hubris had created her own downfall, and in her unthinking ignorance she had taken Rose with her.

"What happened?" Monk said again.

She described it as accurately as she could remember, although she left out a good deal of what Rose had said and summarized the rest. "Argyll must have put alcohol in her lemonade," she finished. "I don't know how-I didn't see anything more than his hand over it for a moment. After tonight's performance she'll have to disappear, and neither she nor her husband will be able to give evidence of anything. And we won't force anything out of Jenny Argyll, either. I won't have any way of getting back into society without Rose. In fact.. ."The heat rose in her face. "In fact, I may be remembered rather unkindly for my part in this. I'm sorry. I'm terribly sorry."

He was startled. "You're . . . why are you apologizing? What else is there that you haven't told me, Hester?"