William had always wanted her to be far more social than her retiring nature allowed. Being loud and ebullient himself, he liked nothing more than a raucous supper party, his table populated by successful and, Adele thought, completely shallow people.

She sometimes wondered why on earth he’d married her; she had always been a wallflower, preferring to listen rather than be listened to, but perhaps the cold hard truth of the matter was that the ruthlessly ambitious William had needed a certain level of social standing to complement his clever, quick mind and burgeoning career. And Adele, sister to a lord and an ‘Honourable’ herself, with a country estate on which to host a grand wedding for those he wanted to impress, had fitted the bill.

Of course, she’d been flattered by him wanting her; he’d been, and still was, a handsome, charismatic man. But as his career had proceeded steadily upwards, she had become less and less relevant to him.

As she walked into the kitchen to read the letter just one more time, Adele knew he had never really loved her.

She stared around the room in which she had spent so many hours trying to be a good wife and mother.

She’d often felt women’s emancipation had completely passed her by. Her life had probably been no different from any character in an Austen novel. Like so many women before her, she’d been tricked into marriage by a charming, but heartless, rogue.

She’d stayed for one reason only: Charlie.

Adele reread the words she had written at six o’clock this morning.

Dear William,

I feel we no longer have a marriage, and haven’t had for some considerable time. Now Charlie has gone, I can see no reason to stay and prolong the agony for either of us. I trust you will think it is for the best, too. No more pretending.

My solicitor will be in touch re: the divorce proceedings, but I will not be difficult. I will be moving back to Norfolk. I suggest we sell the house in Rutland, unless you want to keep it, in which case you could buy me out.

I would like our divorce to be as civilised and as fast as possible so we can both move on.

Thank you for the past twenty-five years. I will cherish the happy moments.

But thank you most of all for Charlie. He made everything worthwhile.

Adele

She folded the letter in three and pushed it into the envelope, knowing she had agonised over the wording enough. She took her pen from her handbag and wrote William’s name on the front. As she carried it into the hall and laid it on top of the rest of the post, she wondered how he would react when he read it.

The one thing she could not imagine was that he would come chasing after her.

She walked to the front door, the fact she was leaving behind twenty-five years of marriage not causing her the pain it should.