‘You allowed yourself to be persuaded, too,’ a little voice inside her whispered.

‘But only when I knew he was already married,’ she answered aloud.

She read all the letters through again, including the ones sent by Pierre and Annette. She had been angry that they had taken it upon themselves to tell Rupert her heart was breaking. It left her no pride, and it was pride had carried her through the dark days that followed the news of Rupert’s desertion.

She thought of Rupert, coming at once to Paris when he heard she was not married. He had spoken to Annette in the marketplace yesterday, given her the letters. Perhaps he would come to the market again today to find out what she had said. Well, she had told Annette to send him away.

She picked up the letters one by one and folded them back into their envelopes. It was too late. Whatever reason there had been, all the misery and misunderstandings, it was too late.

And with that thought in mind she put on her hat and coat and left the apartment. It was too late, she kept telling herself as she walked to the market, but perhaps she could see him, just one more time. See him without him seeing her. When she reached the market square she moved from stall to stall, keeping watch on the poulterer’s stand, seeing Annette serving customers, and then suddenly, there he was. Her Rupert. Not her Rupert. Just Rupert. He walked casually to where Annette was selling eggs to a large woman with a basket, waiting for her to be free. Benny was there too, and when he saw Rupert, he nodded to Annette and the two of them drifted away from the stall. Staying well back, Hélène watched them enter the café. It took all her determination not to follow them inside. Annette would be giving him her message now and then it would all be over. Rupert would go back home to England, he’d settle down at Pilgrim’s Oak, probably after some time he would remarry and start a family and she would never see him again. She would be able to push him into the recesses of her mind, as she had already begun to do.

Quickly she turned on her heel and, with tears flooding down her cheeks, set off back to the apartment. She had made the complete break and when she got home she would take her courage in her hands and go back to Belair, to the rest of her life. She would become a doting aunt, but she would never have any children of her own. She should never have run away, but should have stood up against the proposed marriage with Simon Barnier as soon as she’d realised his true character. No one could force her into such a marriage, and though she knew her reputation was now in tatters, she had to believe that her family would stand by her and take her back. She climbed the stairs to the apartment. She would pack up her few things and then leave, take the train home and face the music.