Writer's note:
As predicted updates have suffered due to me finding a job but also life has run amok due to sickness in my family. I did not feel like writing for a while but I am happy to do it again.
Hope you enjoy the chapter. I am taking, as described in the tags, some historical liberties. Apparently back then people did not divorce but you could annul the marriage on certain grounds, but the criteria were oddly specific, so most people stayed together in misery till they died. I also made it seem like divorced women in that era are practically stained and unweddable which might not be accurate but just roll with please.
Second liberty I have taken. I looked for places relatively close to London but in the country and in the list the town/city/ Abersham was mentioned. Mind you, I have never been, in fact it has been 20 plus years since I have been to the UK so if I am describing Abersham wrong do not sue me please.
Also, as mentioned in the writers note of the previous chapter. Can you tell that I love Ben? I CAN NOT WAIT to start on his fic, where I intend for him to fall in love with a poor seamstress, but I must finish this fic and another one I am writing, first. But still. So excited!
As per usual it is nearing midnight where I live so if there are any stupid grammatical errors I will fix them later.
***************
"What have you done?" his mother asked again, and he could only look at her in bewilderment.
"I ran into Henrietta Kensington at the modiste this morning and she acted like she saw a ghost, barely talked to me.... Out of concern I just went to the Kensington's where I was let in by the butler but then let out again as I was told that the 'family' was indisposed now, but I heard Mara crying in the background in one of the rooms"...
"Oh mother. I did something really foolish..." said Anthony feeling very guilty.
"Tell me" and he explained to her briefly...
"Are you out of your mind?" exclaimed Violet when her son had finished. "What were you thinking? Someone must have seen you and told your wife. Good God, Anthony! Never thought you, of all people, would do such a stupid thing."
"I have to go now. I..." Anthony stammered.
"Yes... YES go quickly" Violet said, gesturing her hands in the direction of the door.
"Try to make it up to her.... For God's sake, do your best or you will lose her".
He grabbed his coat and ran like mad to his wife's parents' house and started pressing the doorbell. The butler opened and Anthony wanted to go in but was stopped.
"I'm sorry Mr Bridgerton but I have strict orders to keep you out" said Mr Tennison while blocking the entrance for Anthony.
"Please... Let me through! I need to speak to her!" said Anthony as he tried to push the butler out of the way, but the man would not budge.
"Let him in" he heard her say and he investigated the distance and saw her standing with her mother.
"Mara... Darling I... I am so- ", Anthony began before getting interrupted by Henrietta Kensington.
"Are you sure you want to speak to him?" her mother asked.
"Yes, mother. Mr. Tennison, would you please escort Mr. Bridgerton to the drawing room... I'll be right there."
The next few minutes were the longest of his life as he waited for her, he felt restless and uncertain and vehemently wished she would appear already. He was risking losing control of his nerves at any moment, and he did not want that to happen for he had to stay calm so he could convince her.
Convince her that he had made a big, immense mistake but that nothing had happened. Tell her that he had been stupid, an imbecile, but that he knew now that he loved her, that he couldn't live without her. That she had every right to blame him but that he hoped she would not send him away because that... would be terrible for him.
The door flew open, and she walked in; he could see right from her face that she had been crying a lot, and he immediately felt guilty and awful, but had tried to camouflage this with powder but had failed.
He immediately got up to walk towards her, but she firmly ordered him to act differently.
"NO! You stay put. Don't you come near me" she exclaimed in a trembling voice, and Anthony meekly sat back down and stared at the floor, his hat still in his hands.
but then slowly looked up at her. He knew he should speak, but the words escaped him now, just when words needed to be uttered.
"Did you go to the opera yesterday? An opera where miss Rosso performed," she asked him after a long silence. He shifted uncomfortably and sighed deeply.
"Mara... I can assure you that-"
"Answer the question, Anthony..." she almost shouted.
"Yes" he replied dejectedly.
"And did you go backstage?" she asked...
"Mara. I... Please, let me-"
"I already know you did Anthony, but I would like to hear it from your mouth; just to be clear" she said trying her best to compose herself and not break into a million pieces.
"So?" she said as she lifted her head to him.
"Yes...", he said in a soft voice, looking at her with difficulty She only shook her head...
"You UNBELIEVABLE hypocrite.... " she sneered with tears in her eyes and a faltering voice.
He stood up and started walking towards her, against her will.
"Don't come any closer!" she yelled, and he stilled in his movement once more but did not sit down this time but just stood there.
" You must know that nothing happened between her and me. My love...I've been an idiot and what I've done is terrible, but please... give me a chance to make it right between us" but all hope of that happening seemed to be fading away quickly judging her reaction.
"That time you accused me of arranging a meeting Henry at the museum... Accusing me of still having feelings for him while you're the one who still has feelings for her... the hypocrisy truly is staggering.".
"I have no feelings for her! I have feelings for YOU! " he shouted now also losing control of his emotions.
"And I'm just supposed to believe that? Who says you and she didn't -".
"Nothing happened... I repeat... Nothing happened. We only talked and-"
'Spare me your lies, Anthony.... I don't want to hear it" and he saw that she had started to cry, something he could not bear to watch, knowing that he was responsible for these tears. He was with her in what seemed like a second, before she could even send him away and grabbed her by the arms.
" Sweetheart, you must believe me. I'm so sorry... I'm sorry, I'll say sorry a thousand times as long as you give me a chance to make it up to you. I love you, I realised that now. I was a fool, but I love you... Please," he said, and he tried to get closer to her to embrace her, but she broke free from his grasp.
She looked at him while she stood back. His confession had thrown her off guard. He had never told her before that he loved her and she wanted to believe it, oh so badly, but he had also told her that he would never hurt her and ... look what this promise had brought her. Nothing more and nothing less than a broken heart.
"No. NO. This is over" she claimed, and a mixture of shock, sadness and pain went through Anthony.
"What?" he said incredulously.
"I will be contacting our lawyer soon to start the divorce proceedings."
"You can't be serious... Mara. There is no need for us to separate, no need at all", Anthony stated as he gathered near once more, but she stepped back again.
"Can we just... can we just talk about this?" he suggested with a soft tone to his voice, vulnerable and uncertain.
"Not here, at home.".
"What good is that going to do? There is nothing left to discuss and we... we don't have a home together anymore. I will ask the maid to fetch my things soon", she countered.
These words angered Anthony a great deal and it made him lose his composure.
"I will not allow that! I WILL NOT. You can't just dissolve our marriage like this. You and I are going HOME NOW so we can sort this out" but she shook her head and then uttered the words that made him instantly quiet and brought upon a sadness in his heart.
"You promised you would never hurt me, Anthony. You promised yet you did" she said tearfully.
"I know. I know, please forgive me. Please" he stated softly as she walked into her direction, but she held her hand up, summoning him to stay back, and there they stood for a little while just staring at each other but not being able to speak much more. A general sense of defeat swept over Anthony and it had him reeling at the spot, but he could not do anything else but succumb to it.
Neither of them had noticed that Mara's father had entered the drawing room, too lost in gazing at each other, eyes flickering with emotions that displayed regret and hurt. William took one look at his tearful daughter and quickly drew a conclusion.
"Anthony... I am going to ask you to leave now" said his father-in-law who had suddenly walked in.
"But Sir. I... We are not done with discussing the... matter at hand" Anthony objected.
"Well, I think you are for done for now", William countered.
Anthony sighed and shook his head and then directed his attention to Mara.
"Don't make any hasty decisions, Mara. I beg you" he said before giving her one last look, nodding as a goodbye to William and leaving.
He intended to have Charleston bring the last bottle of alcohol from the cellar. He wanted nothing more than to get completely drunk, and he didn't care if he had to drink his entire stock of liquor to do so. Anthony wanted to silence his feelings in any way he could; perhaps then he could get rid of the gnawing guilt in him...
He was going to lose her, he knew deep down, even though thoughts of hope still danced through his mind occasionally. Tomorrow would probably be better, these thoughts told him, even though they had no merit to back them up.
The door opened and Anthony looked up at his visitor, or visitors in his case.
"Ah wonderful. It is D'Artagnan, Porthos and.... Damn it what was the last one again?" tried Anthony and he frowned in frustration because he really couldn't think of it.
"Aramis. And thank you for referring to me as D'Artagnan by the way" he added with a smile to which Benedict scoffed.
"Who says you are the one he was referring to? Maybe he meant me? " said Benedict quasi-insulted. Simon turned around and made a fluid movement with his hands over his torso as if to say, "come on now, who are you kidding me?".
"Alright then, you are D'Artagnan..." Benedict stated reluctantly and rolled his eyes in the process and it made such a funny sight to see that it made Simon chuckle.
Simon then turned to Anthony and sat down next to him in the leather fauteuil. His brothers sat down on the sofa to his left. Colin called for Charleston, the butler and a little while later everyone was sipping their whiskey, in silence. Simon was the first to break it.
"You alright, mate?" he asked out of genuine concern.
"NO. Nothing is right at all" exclaimed Anthony with gritted teeth.
"Yeah, we heard that you behaved like a preposterous idiot" said the ever so tactful Colin to which Benedict shot him a condemning glare.
"I mean um... that you made a mistake" added Colin quickly. Anthony nodded and a pained smile came over him.
"That is unfortunately true" he sighed and then took a big gulp from his whiskey glass.
"And what a mistake it was... Well, I am happy you guys showed up now I can toast with you instead of doing it alone. To the demise of my marriage" he said sarcastically and raised his glass to the company.
"Don't get ahead of yourself, Anthony, I am sure things are not that bleak. You are probably going to have to eat dirt until the end of your days, but you guys will work things out... surely".
"No Simon." Anthony replied. "She was talking about getting a divorce."
Simon grimaced and looked at his friend and brother-in-law, concluding that he did not look good, his hair a mess, his eyes deeply withdrawn, and Anthony sat with a dirty, half unbuttoned shirt.
"People say things they don't mean when they are angry and right now, she is exactly that, angry but that doesn't she won't be able to forgive you. " Simon suggested in a soft tone.
"Would Daphne forgive you? If you had done what I have? asked Anthony sharply. Simon knew the answer, never in a million years, but didn't want to say it so as not to discourage Anthony further. Instead, he threw it over another tactic and lied.
"I think that depends on what happened I guess.?" Simon argued.
"Nothing happened though. Nothing at all. Yes, I went to her performance. Yes, I've been backstage with her too, but we just talked. Just spoke to each other. Nothing out of sorts occurred. When I came to my senses and realized the stupidity of my error I left immediately."
"I explained that to Mara, but she didn't believe me and wouldn't listen" repeated Anthony and then downed down the entire content of his glass.
"Charleston! More whiskey!" he shouted but Simon reached for his hand and took it from him.
"By the smell of your breath you have had enough for today. Possibly tomorrow as well" as he psychically recoiled at Anthony's breath.
"Give it back, Simon. Now." But he said no... Anthony bent over, a little too fast for his head to almost spin but finally looked at Simon menacingly.
"I'm warning you, if you don't give me back my glass then... "
"Then what, Anthony? What? Do tell me, are we going to duel at dawn? Or throw punches here? Fine... It won't be a problem for me, but it will be an unfair fight for you are drunk as a skunk and I'm not but if you insist... I'll be happy to oblige so long as. you are the one explaining to Daphne why we fought" Simon answered and Anthony remained silent for a moment thinking of his sister.
That clever bastard, casually bringing up his beloved sister like that knowing full well that Daphne would give them both the scolding of a lifetime if she found out that they had argued.
"Oh, never mind" said Anthony as he admitted defeat and then shrouded himself in silence again.
"Why don't you go to sleep, brother... Maybe in the morning she will think differently and then you can try to talk to Mara again..." Benedict suggested.
"And if she won't talk to me, what do you suggest I do?" asked Anthony.
"Then you give her time to think.... just if she needs, brother. You have no other choice but if I were I would go sleep on it and try again tomorrow".
"Ben is right, it is getting late" Colin said, walking over to Anthony and holding out his hand to him. "Come on, I'll take you upstairs. There is no way you will make it there on your own account, not in this state" he argued.
"No need, I can walk" but when Anthony got up too quickly, he suffered a serious case of vertigo and nearly tumbled backwards but Simon luckily caught him.
"Point. Proven." Colin concluded with a sigh as he reached for Anthony, grabbed him, and put an arm around his brother's shoulder to support him up.
"Ben. Some help please" Colin said to which Ben came up to Anthony's left and the three of them walked slowly upstairs. Arriving in his bedroom, Colin and Ben removed Anthony's shirt, socks, and trousers, put the eldest of the Bridgerton's to bed and left. They had not yet left the room when Anthony succumbed to fatigue and drifted off in a deep sleep.
Anthony woke up with an immense headache and several urges to vomit, most of which he could suppress but not the last. He just barely ran to the bathroom to vomit in the sink and at the same time curse himself for having drunk such copious glasses of whiskey. Anthony felt horrible; not only physically but also mentally, now that he realized again that his wife was not there.
He took a quick bath, had a light breakfast since his stomach couldn't handle anything more and then rushed to the Kensington's and knocked impatiently on the door. It opened and Anthony was greeted coldly but solemnly by Mr. Tennison.
"I do not want a repeat of yesterday. I want to go in and see my wife and I would urge you to allow me access to the house".
"Unfortunately, Mr. Bridgerton...That won't do" the butler pointed out.
"Not again. Listen, I'm beginning to lose my patience. You get out of my way now or I-" hissed Anthony but he was interrupted mid-sentence.
"Madam is not here. The whole family is not present.... Have left early this morning". Anthony looked at him as if petrified at hearing this news.
"Where to then?" he asked with wide eyes.
"I wasn't informed about where the family was intending to go" Mr. Tennison replied with a touch of annoyance in his intonation. He had always been fond of Anthony even though his actions contrasted that disposition, but that fondness was quickly fading.
"Nonsense... You must know and I demand that you inform that me now of the knowledge you possess".
"I assure you that I sincerely do not know. Nothing has been communicated to me.... If you will excuse me now, I have some matters to attend to. Good day Sir, "Mr. Tennison said before shutting the door in Anthony's face.
Anthony Bridgerton had always known what to do, at an early age when he was forced to take on the role of patriarch of the family but now... his thoughts were swirling in all directions and the ability to think logically disappeared.
It had been the right decision, Mara agreed, to go to the countryside. The fresh air had always done her complexion and condition good, besides there was the possibility to swim in the brook and to undertake all kinds of fun activities with Lucas and Helena.... This year she had hoped Anthony would also....
No, no she wouldn't think of him, though every mile further from London made her heart hurt even more but well.... sometime in the countryside would do her good.... At least this is what she tried to tell herself when the opposite proved true.... Her thoughts were with him, with every book she read, with every game she played with her brother and sister, with every attempt at embroidery (which she gave up at one point because she could not get one stitch in), she could not escape him.
Had she reacted hastily? Should she have explained to him...things? Should she have believed him? Even though he might have been telling the truth, at the end of the day, his behaviour was inappropriate to say the least.
And what he was doing had been incredibly hypocritical, whatever his reasons were.... What were his reasons, anyway? Why was he going to her? She hadn't noticed anything about him in the past weeks/months, if he had had doubts, about anything why hadn't he shared them with her? What possessed him to go to... or in what had she been negligent that he had felt it necessary to.... She didn't even want to think about it and started to get angry.
No of course she had not acted rashly, and it was right that she chose to distance herself from him now. She needed time to process some things anyway. Mara meant what she said, she wanted to divorce him, but that process would also take time and she didn't want to start now. Now she needed to remove herself from him; for a while and then she could start thinking about the plan of action.... It wasn't going to be easy as a divorced woman. Even though her father had assured her that he wouldn't leave her out in the cold and that she would receive a monthly allowance, that didn't mean that her path would be a smooth one.
That was the annoying thing about woman in the era she had grown up in. The men had it easy and could quickly find another wife but the women It was not impossible, of course, but a second marriage, born of love, not necessity, was rare. Not that Mara thought with a hair on her head about marrying again after being separated from... him. No, she didn't need to, she had had her fill of "love". She had been kept on a leash by Henry for six years and when something better came along, he had quickly traded her in for someone else. Then she was married to Anthony for a year before he, too, chose someone else over her... So, it was probably down to her because she was the common denominator between the two men. Both were quickly bored with her; perhaps she was too boring for them, filling her days with her nose in a book, visiting museums and other educational events/lectures.
"I'm beginning to think you like that book more than me" Antony had joked as he had begun kissing her neck, tickling her with his mouth.
"Come to bed with me." he had whispered to her in a sultry tone.
"Just a few more pages, Anthony... Am almost at the end" and he growled in playful annoyance.
"Fine... I'll go ahead... I'll see you in a minute... right?" he had smiled but by the time she came up he was asleep.
Yet she did not understand... it was not as if he and Mara did not like it... had no problems in that ' aspect' of their lives.... or so she thought because apparently, he felt like there was something... lacking?
"Mara... you're not eating again". She looked up and saw her mother looking at her with concern.
"You're right..." she smiled apologetically, and she reluctantly took a bite out of her beef cutlet.
"Are you thinking about Anthony again?" said Henrietta with a forgiving look in her eyes to which Mara nodded and then stared at her plate.
"You know we can go back to London at any time, and you can talk it out with him. Your father and I will be perfectly understanding about that if you want to see him".
"No mother... we don't have to. I am not going to change my mind". Henrietta Kensington sighed.
"Dearest daughter of mine... I am not saying you should reconcile, he wronged you terribly and I will respect your decision. Of course, you can always stay with us... but it is hard to be a divorced woman in this society. It's not easy, and you know that too. It the last thing I wish for you is to spend your life alone..."
"BUT I won't be alone, Mother, I have you and Helena and Lucas.".
"Yes, that's right dear... but your father and I are getting older by the day and although Helena and Lucas are small, they too will leave the parental home one day and what will happen to you then?".
"Don't worry about me..I may still end up becoming a governess or.... or something like that" she mumbled uncertainly in reply.
Henrietta Kensington sighed deeply and remained silent for a long time.
"Just ponder upon the matter so more will you We are invited to the Harpers for the afternoon.... Since I didn't think you'd feel like going I said you were indisposed". Mara was grateful her mother had lied for her because the last thing she felt like doing right now was to be among people and answer questions she didn't want to answer.
"Good. You'll have the cottage to yourself all day tomorrow.... I would advise you, my dear, to think carefully about what is best for your future."
**********
It had taken him weeks, but he had found her, well "his guy" had tracked them down, they were in the town of Amersham. Anthony was delighted, finally after 21 days of worrying he would see her again. He had understood from his informant, to whom he had given a large bonus, that they were staying in a cottage that a friend of William had lent them. William Kensington was a striking man and his appearance had not gone unnoticed, Anthony's informant had followed him all day and relayed the location of the cottage the next day. Anthony had left early the next day and it was sometime in the afternoon that he arrived at the house after the coachman had dropped him off right in front of it.
The cottage was larger than he had expected but nevertheless looked cosy with its white walls and blue shutters. He knocked on the door with a thundering heart, but no one answered, he looked inside and concluded that no one was home.... Shit. He hadn't counted on this, what now he thought but something in him told him to go for a stroll around the area.
It was a beautiful spring day, although he wasn't dressed to walk in the countryside, it didn't bother him much. Anthony walked on and on for a bit. The scenery was beautiful, the green of the meadow, those colourful flowers adorning the path on either side.... The path ended in a row of trees, beginning of a reasonably large forest, as far as Anthony could see but he didn't feel like traversing the forest and instead decided to go around it... until he saw her. Just coming out of the forest in a stunning sky-blue dress and with her hair loose from her usual 'bun'. She stood as if petrified at first, he saw, her mouth fell open and her eyes got big and basically just looked at him as she felt unable to move.
He walked slowly toward her, with calculated steps, very carefully as if he didn't want to spook her and when close enough, he still did his best not to upset her. She was breathing slowly, it seemed, and still seemed to be as if stunned until he got too close, and she walked right back. This hurt Anthony somewhere but now was not the time for a hurt ego.
"I'm so happy to see you" Anthony spoke.
" I just want to talk to you" he said almost pleadingly and with remorse in his eyes. Mara was struggling to find the words to speak because she still somewhere had not fully processed that he was standing across of her. But eventually speak, she did.
"As I said before there's nothing to talk about. Like I said before, it's over between" she said once she came back to her senses and she started walking away and took a big bow around him.
"You don't mean that... Mara. Will. Will you stop walking away from me please?" he said but she didn't. This annoyed him, that she was so distant, but he tried to be understanding. If he was honest, very honest he wanted to pull her towards him and kiss her so fervently that 3 weeks of longing for her was nullified but he understood that he had to approach things carefully.
She walked on firmly, pretending not to care about him, and that moment Anthony implemented another tactic. He caught up with her and stood in front of her, effectively barring her attempts to walk away.
"Get out of my way!" she hissed at her husband.
"No. Not until you listen to me" he replied to her in a determined manner.
"I said let me pass" and she gave him a light but at the same time strong poke on his chest which made him flinch but quickly recover and once again prevented her from making her exit.
She walked on firmly, pretending not to care about him, and that moment Anthony implemented another tactic. He caught up with her and stood in front of her, effectively barring her attempts to walk away.
"I'm serious Anthony, if you don't let me pass, I'm going to scream really loud so that the farmers who live further down the road will hear me and come running to the sound. You don't want a scene I suppose".
She had a point there, indeed he didn't want to make a scene, even if they were only now but her warning seemed convincing, so he stepped out of her way.
But he didn't give up yet, instead of surrendering, he walked beside her and that irritated her immensely.
"You shouldn't have come" she remarked coolly after a little pause.
"How... did you find me, ... I mean us?" she inquired.... It was a question that bothered her from the beginning that she had seen him, they had taken the right precautions to avoid him and yet he had found her.
"I have my sources " he smiled, and his smile was one that could melt even the most insensitive people but damn no, she wouldn't fall for it.
Then the two remained silent again for a while, walking down a hill, Mara had deliberately chosen a long route, a detour, probably to hide the location of the cottage (which he already knew) but he didn't mind. It only worked in his favour because now he had more time to spend with her, and to sway her, well at least hopefully.
"It's incredibly beautiful here... Do you come here often?" he asked out of genuine interest.
"This is the first time" she replied. "We will probably stay here until we go back to Brighton and father has finished his business in London."
"Back to Brighton?" he asked, suddenly stopping in his tracks, and staring at her in confusion.
"What do you mean back and what do you mean by 'we'?".
"By that I mean that we are going to move back and won't be in London anymore.... " she said and she then walked on but he caught up with her again.
"Ah so your parents are leaving but you will not. Got it." said Anthony deliberating drawing the wrong conclusion.
"No... I'm going too" she said with a sharp look at him, until then she had only been looking ahead, now her gaze was directly on him.
"Oh, is that so?" he stated sharply.
"I think you are forgetting that you are still married to me and not going anywhere for the time being.... No, strike that. You are NEVER going anywhere else, not without me".
"You do NOT decide that! Once we are separated I will. -l".
"Oh, we're not getting divorced I can assure you that, you can wait a very long time for that to occur".
"No, you see, I don't have to wait long for it at all. I'll see to it that you get the papers sent to you soon" she said deliberately in a cool way to chagrin him.
Losing his control, he grabbed her wrist and forced her to turn to him.
"You are not listening carefully I believe. So, I will explain this to you again. You and I are not splitting up. Is that clear?" he said angrily but his gaze soon softened as he looked at her, taking her in. God how beautiful she was with her greenish brown eyes, inviting full lips, so inviting that he... he...
A second later he had grabbed her face and pressed his mouth to hers, in an all-encompassing kiss that she couldn't say no to... It was wrong she knew too, but it felt so familiar, his hands on her hip and back, feeling his mouth on hers, feeling his soft hair on her forehead. She couldn't resist, it was as if her heart split in two, the left side screaming that she loved him and that it should be vice versa and the right making her doubt, remind her of what he had done.
Finally, the right side and her wounded pride won the battle, making her step back and slap him.
"Don't you dare do that again... " she said angrily "I want you to leave now and stop coming to see me..."
"I mean it Anthony. I don't want you to. It's over between us."
He shook his head. "No, I'm not leaving until you go back with me or we talk it out.... Not before" and he grabbed her and pulled himself back to him by once again grabbing her wrist.
"I-" he wanted to say but he suddenly heard a gunshot and it startled him.
He looked in the direction of the sound and saw William Kensington coming up the hill, holding his rifle in his hand as he approached the pair, he turned the word to Anthony with a look that could kill.
"Oh, hello Anthony.... Funny running into you here? How are you?" asked William politely even though he was inwardly seething at his son-in-law.
"Good. thank you. And how are you?" said Anthony out of politeness.
"Splendid, thank you but currently feeling slightly frustrated. You see I was hunting for a rabbit, but it escaped me. Did you see one?" he asked innocently, knowing that there hadn't been a rabbit to be found in the far distance.
"Uhm no..."
"Hhm pity but maybe I'll have more luck tomorrow. It is getting dark and a bit chilly to be out at this hour. I think we should just return to the cottage.... What do you say Mara?".
"We should, father and I think it would be best for Anthony to return to London before dusk.... It is not safe to travel at night", she said, and Anthony looked at her incredulously.
"Mara, don't do this. Don't.. We need to-".
"You heard her, Anthony. Better if you leave now. Come on, I'll walk with you and make sure you get on a carriage "and he put an arm around his son-in-law, not yet pushing him forward. Anthony looked back at her and continued to do so until he could no longer see her.