She had helped him with the estate in many ways, but she had done nothing that a trustworthy agent could not do, save, perhaps, in the matter of caring for the poorer tenants.

They would miss her, she told herself, but no one else.

It was very long since she had entertained any guests at the Manor.

Sir Giles had offended almost everyone who could ever have claimed the privilege of intimacy with him.

And people wondered openly that his wife still lived with him.