His eyes were haunted. ‘She saw me with Ailsa. Watched as we made love. She followed Ailsa when she left Beanach. Waited in the woods near Ard Choille until Ailsa came back from the campsite.’

‘You mean Caroline?’ She could hardly believe what she was saying.

‘The argument became physical and Ailsa fell and hit her head on a rock. When she realized what she’d done, she called Finn. He buried the body where we found it.’

Even as he spoke the words, she knew that he still didn’t, couldn’t, believe what he was saying.

‘Maybe she’s covering for Finn?’ Joanne tried.

‘According to the police, Finn tried to claim he did it, but they said they had forensic evidence that matched Caroline’s confession.’

He sat in painful silence for some moments.

‘She was mad with fear that I would leave her.’ He met Joanne’s eyes. ‘I felt that fear when I saw Richard with you in the lochan. I could have killed him – would have killed him – had Josh not been there to stop me.’

She moved behind him and wrapped her arms about him.

‘I spoke with her lawyer. He says they’ll take her pregnancy and state of mind into account. They’ll plead an accidental death caused by the fall.’ He looked up at her. ‘There’s something I want to say to you.’

Taking her hand, he drew her round to sit next to him.

‘I don’t want to make the same mistake again. I’ve wanted to say something since I found out about the pregnancy, but didn’t because I was afraid you would think I was interfering in your choice.

‘I want us to be together no matter what you decide, but I want you to know that it doesn’t matter to me who the father is, because I love this baby’s mother and I’ll love the baby just as much.’

So there it was.

She wasn’t sure it was the right time to tell him. Then again, maybe it was the only time.

‘I need to go home. Back to London, I mean. I need to make it known who and what Richard Longman QC really is. I need to speak to Lucy, my friend. I need to think clearly, away from here. From you. From this world. When I’ve cleared my head and made my decision . . .’ She tailed off at that.

‘You’ve booked the train already?’

‘Tomorrow night’s sleeper.’

‘Okay. I’ll take you there.’

‘I don’t want that. It would be too hard.’ She shook her head. ‘I’ve already asked Kath to take me and she’s agreed.’

He gave a small nod. ‘I need to call Malcolm, although I expect Harry may have already told him about . . .’ He stopped there, obviously unable to say Caroline’s name.