CHAPTER SIXAll night Mariota was alternatively lifted into the clouds with elation to think that the Earl loved her and then cast into the depths of despair because she knew that she must never see him again.
When they returned to the house, she was well aware that he was so emotionally moved by what they had said to each other that, on climbing down from the phaeton, he had walked straight in through the front door and up the stairs to his bedroom.
She deliberately lingered because she knew that for the moment she must not talk to him, must not make things worse than they were already.
She patted the horses, telling the groom how splendid they looked and how well they had behaved and then slowly, feeling as if a chapter of her life was now closed, she walked into the house.
Because sh
