Lydia’s heart raced as she stared across the room at her estranged husband. When he did not come for her three years earlier, she had thought he had made his decision—to cut her loose after marrying her from a sense of misguided duty. Or, worse, that he had died in battle. Either way, she had been too afraid to find out and, after her initial letter, had never tried contacting him again. Better that she lock all the pain and loss away while staying busy.
After three years serving as the Duke of Halmesbury’s housekeeper, she had decided it was time to pursue her own dreams and forge her own path. She had grown tired of waiting for her life to begin while her youth continued to slip by. It was clear that children of her own were out of the question, so the day after she turned twenty-eight,
