Murmuring a hurried thank you, she ducked behind a pillar, flushing as the woman turned round to stare at her in open-mouthed amazement.

After a moment Megan peered carefully out. Yes, there they were, sitting in an intimate huddle at a table outside a café – her husband and Cynthia! They hadn’t noticed her, so engrossed were they in earnest conversation. She stood there watching them, fuming. It was disgusting the way that woman kept pawing Ben! And even more disgusting that he kept allowing it!

Swallowing hard, Megan tried to keep her emotions under control, but tears filled her eyes. From the look of things, Ben wasn’t finished with Cynthia. Perhaps he wanted to have his cake and eat it?

Well, Megan wasn’t going to put up with that. Definitely not!

After a minute or two she managed to pull herself together and stepped back on the escalator, resentment sizzling through her. She wondered if he’d notice her. But of course there was no shout from behind her because he hadn’t eyes for anything but Cynthia.

So he had been detained on business, had he? What business could he possibly have with her? All that talk in England about faithfulness and loyalty within marriage! What he meant was that his wife must be loyal, while he did as he pleased. The usual male double standard and she had fallen for it, hook, line and sinker!

More by luck than good management, she found her way down to the ferries. Once on board she gazed out at the Swan River with lacklustre eyes, unable to get the picture of her husband and Cynthia cosying up at the table out of her mind.

At one stage in the slow journey down the river, she noticed a man looking at her admiringly. He gave her a friendly nod and she glared at him, feeling a surge of satisfaction as he hurriedly looked elsewhere. She didn’t flirt with other men. Didn’t want to.

Pain filled her and tears welled in her eyes. All she wanted was for her husband to love her. Would that be too much to ask?

She was sure she and Ben were well suited – or at least, they could be if he would give it a real chance. If he would only let affection grow between them, they could build a home and a wonderful life together. She lost herself for a while in dreams of what that home might be like, what a child of Ben’s might look like, then jerked back into cold reality as she realised they had just reached Fremantle.