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Her mother kissed her forehead, then looked into the cradle.

“Emma is well?”

“Entirely unaware that her father intends to tear our lives apart.”

“Douglas has made threats,” Anna said. “He has not yet succeeded.”

“Ambrose believes he will.”

“Ambrose is a man accustomed to facing difficulties alone. That does not mean he is right to do so.”

Marina looked at her mother sharply. “You said much the same thing last night.”

“And I shall say it again if necessary.”

Anna sat beside her.

“Simon has offered his help. Harper is furious, and Sophia would very much like to tell the Earl of Rutland precisely what she thinks of him. I have persuaded her that the present circumstances do not require another scene.”

“That must have been difficult.”

“Exceedingly.”

Marina managed a faint smile.

“Has Simon seen Ambrose?” she asked.

“Not that I know of. But he has been making inquiries.”

Marina looked down at her wedding ring. “Ambrose told me to take Emma and leave him. He meant it, Mother. He was prepared to lose everything and then send us away, as though he were merely an unpleasant detail in our lives.”

“He is afraid.”

“So am I.”

“I know.”

“Yet I am still here.”

Anna covered Marina’s hand with her own. “Then tell him that again when he comes home. And make him listen.”

The day passed with a cruelty Marina had never imagined Christmas could possess.

The children downstairs laughed over their gifts. From the drawing room came the faint sound of someone playing a carol.

Ordinarily Marina would have been among them, persuading everyone to admire the Christmas tree, offering sweets and telling stories of her grandmother Gerda’s celebrations.

Instead she stayed with Emma.

She did not want the others to see her watching the clock.

By afternoon, snow had begun to fall again. Marina stood at the nursery window, Emma nestled against her shoulder, while Luna sat on the sill.

“Do you know what your uncle said to me?” she whispered. “He said that you and I should have a real family. As though he were not already part of it.”

Emma grasped a strand of her hair.

“Yes,” Marina murmured. “I thought it foolish too.”