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‘It’s a very simple thing,’ he replied evenly. ‘You tell your friends, your family—anyone who will listen, in fact—that you made a mistake. Meg was not responsible for Anthony’s death. In your grief you made claims you now regret, and you take great pains to ensure everyone knows you retract them.’

A spot of colour, perhaps of thwarted temper, rose in each of Isabella’s cheeks. Her automatic reaction to being asked to admit fault was to refuse, and Jacob saw what it cost her to subdue it. She looked as though she was wrestling with her very nature, but another long look down at Celia helped her to make her choice.

‘Very well. If that’s what’s required to maintain my daughter’s unblemished reputation, then I suppose I have no option but to agree.’

Jacob heard Meg bite back a small, indeterminate sound. Her fingers locked around his but he didn’t turn to her, instead keeping Isabella in his sights until he was sure the deal was done.

‘Good. I’m glad we could come to an agreement.’

She gave him a cold stare. It couldn’t have been more obvious she resented being made to correct her mistake but there was no other way out. She very clearly didn’t want to be in his or Meg’s presence any longer, now she was at a disadvantage, and as it was apparent no apology for the suffering she’d caused was forthcoming Jacob saw no reason to stop her as she got to her feet.

‘I think Celia will be able to travel with me back to my parents’ estate now. I shall leave Wellbourne House as soon as I’ve made my arrangements.’

He nodded, although he had barely heard a word she’d said. A tide of relief was rising against the dam he’d constructed inside himself and it would burst unless he concentrated very hard. With Isabella’s promise to right the wrongs she’d created, there could be no reason for an annulment, and the growing desire to snatch up Meg and dance with her around the room was one he would have happily indulged if his sister-in-law hadn’t paused by the door.

‘I’ll write a few letters before I go,’ she said grudgingly, deliberately not looking in Meg’s direction. ‘Three or four to my most intimate friends should be enough to set events in motion to satisfy your demands.’

‘Thank you.’ He inclined his head graciously, although his thoughts were already beginning to stray to the moment he could lift Meg onto his lap. ‘I trust, in time, we’ll all be able to put this behind us.’

Isabella’s lips folded into a thin line. She either had nothing more to say or she deemed it unwise to speak further, as without another word she turned on her heel, sweeping from the dining room in a swish of expensive skirts.

The same instant the door banged closed, Jacob turned to Meg.

‘Well.’

‘Well, indeed.’

He scanned her countenance. It was as bright as the most beautiful sunrise, such cautious happiness shining from it that he felt his heart leap. He hadn’t seen her so full of life and hope in weeks, and he didn’t even attempt to fight it when the insistent voice of his greatest desire told him to gather her into his arms.

He surrendered to it, delighting when Meg slid across to lean against his chest. She was perfectly positioned for him to bury his face in the crook of her neck, and the wonder of being able to breathe in the scent of her skin once more almost unmanned him too much to speak.

‘I hope you’re not too disappointed.’

‘Disappointed?’ She half-murmured, half-laughed as his lips found her earlobe. ‘Why would I be?’

‘Because I’m afraid now you have no reason to insist on an annulment,’ Jacob replied, his voice muffled by its progress along her ear. ‘With your reputation rehabilitated, you’d have no cause to worry about our future children or the Fernley family name, meaning you’d have no pretext to escape from me.’

Meg’s contented sigh was like music. ‘I don’t want to escape. I never did. All I’ve wanted for years is to live with you for the rest of my life and never let anything or anyone come between us again.’

Jacob smiled into her hair. They’d hurt each other once through misunderstandings, but he had learned from his mistakes and wouldn’t repeat them, now only giving his word where he knew he could guarantee its truth.

‘I like the sound of that. I think it’s something I can arrange.’

Two weeks later

‘What’s this?’

Sitting up in their bed, suffused in morning sunlight and with her hair tumbled loose around her bare shoulders, Meg frowned as she noticed a folded piece of paper propped on her bedside drawer. Unless she was much mistaken, it hadn’t been there when she’d retired the night before, although in fairness she’d been far too immersed in what Jacob had been doing at the time to pay attention to anything else.

He was lying beside her and his shrug almost made her forget about the mysterious paper altogether. With his hands behind his head, and the sheets only just covering his hips, he was an arresting sight, but it was his enigmatic smile that really caught her interest.

‘Why don’t you open it and find out?’

She squinted at him suspiciously, although she couldn’t help the beginnings of a smile of her own. ‘Maybe I will.’

Leaning over to pick it up, she felt his eyes on her. He’d rolled onto his side to get a better view and the closeness with which he watched her increased her curiosity tenfold. If she’d been mildly interested before, now she was fully invested, the quirk of her mouth taking on a puzzled edge as she opened the paper and began to read.

‘“Dear Lord Fernley, I hope this letter finds you well. Further to our discussion last month, I am pleased to confirm that the necessary work to reverse the enclosure of the estate belonging to Wellbourne House has been completed—”’