He had bullied her for so long. It was his word and his alone that had ruled her life until this moment. Always he had been there, a terrible distorted figure against whose judgment there was no appeal and from whose cruelty she had no escape. But now he was gone, he had walked out of her life across a room and disappeared round the curve of the stairs.
It was almost impossible to believe that it was true, that he had gone as easily as that, releasing her from her bondage, not by death or disaster or indeed by any form of violence, but simply at the command of another man – a man who had saved her against his own will, but who, nevertheless, was still her saviour.
She heard someone approaching and turned swiftly towards the sound of the footsteps, taking her fingers from her eyes that we
