“Why are you crying?” he asked.
She had the feeling that it was not what he had intended to say, but because there seemed to be no point in not answering him, she merely replied,
“I-I am – going – away.”
As she spoke, she again felt in her belt for a handkerchief. She did not seem to have one and the Earl took his from his breast pocket and held it out to her.
After a moment she took it from him and wiped her cheeks and eyes, wondering why he had come to her bedroom and feeling that perhaps he was still as angry as he had been the night before.
If he was, she felt it would be impossible to answer his accusations and yet she longed to tell him that he had been totally mistaken.
He waited until she put the handkerchief into her lap.
Then he said,
“I have come to apologise.”
It was n
