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Ina shook her head in astonishment at her mother-in-law’s arrogance.

“He won’t relent,” she said. “Once Gavin’s mind is made up he’s impossible to sway.”

She should know. She’d been his friend for years but now that was all over.

“Oak Park would never have been your home,” said Lady Sophia. “It’s best you make your peace with that now.”

“You’re right,” Ina said. “Edinburgh is my home. It always will be.”

Lady Sophia made a disparaging noise. “Your loyalty to the dreary place is astounding, really.”

Ina’s nails cut half moons into her palms. “What exactly is so astounding about it?”

That earned her a dismissive wave of a hand. “There’s no real society there. Hardly anyone is good ton.”

“That’s not true. There is more intelligence and innovation in one square block of the New Town than in half of England.”

“Among whom?” scoffed her mother-in-law. “A ragtag band of doctors and barristers?”

“Doctors, barristers, artists, intellectuals, writers, philosophers. We all make Edinburgh our home,” Ina said.

“My son should be surrounded by his peers. He’s a baronet,” the older woman hissed.

“And what of before? What of all those years when he was nothing more than your second son? A man forced to choose to either live in his brother’s shadow or strike out on his own.”

“My husband provided for him,” said Lady Sophia.

It was Ina’s turn to laugh in disbelief. “Provided for him? He hardly gave him enough to pay his rent and his coal bill. And what’s worse? Gavin never let on about it. He never once complained about his lot or his poverty, because he was free to do what he loved.

“Do you never think of that?” she asked. “That your son, who has never wanted to be master of this estate, has set aside the things he loves?”

“What is that? A book hardly anyone read? A handful of articles? That’s easy to give up when it comes to an estate as grand as Oak Park. Here he’ll be respected—a pillar of the community. He’ll be invited everywhere. He’ll go to London. He’ll be seen with the right sort of people who can elevate his position and the Barrett name even higher.”

Ina shook her head in disbelief. “You truly don’t know the first thing about him, do you? He doesn’t want any of that.”

“And you think instead he’d rather be in Edinburgh where he’s nothing more than the husband to a notorious woman whose family thinks money has bought them respectability?”

“No. I don’t think he wants that either.”

Lady Sophia looked at her with satisfaction. “I’m glad to see you’re beginning to understand reason.”

“I’d come to Oak Park with a mind to be a comfort during your period of mourning,” Ina said, drawing herself up to her full height. “I can see that there was no hope of us ever finding common ground.”

“How can I find common ground with a woman whose very reputation threatens my son’s position in this world?”

Ina’s lips tightened, but instead of responding, she simply turned and left.

She managed to hold on to the emotions welling up inside of her until the door shut behind her. Then the tears began to roll down her face. Her hope was that one day Gavin would understand the freedom she was giving him. Freedom from the love he no longer felt. Freedom from the wife he didn’t want. Freedom from his past and hers.

Somewhere in the house a grandfather clock chimed nine, and Ina knew it was time

“You’re truly leaving?” asked Grace.

Ina started. Her sister-in-law was standing a few feet away, watching her.

“There’s nothing left here for me,” she said. “I should never have left Edinburgh in the first place.”

“Does Gavin know?” asked Grace.