Semua Bab One Betrayal Is Enough: Bab 11 - Bab 20

I had barely reached my hotel when Lady Margaret called.It was four in the morning, and she didn't ask whether I was safe, and she didn't ask what Adrian had done.The first thing she said was, "Evelyn, this can be settled inside the family."Adrian had clearly already told her.Perhaps not to ask for help.He was simply used to the whole Blackwood family keeping up appearances for him whenever something went wrong."What does settling it inside the family mean?" I asked."Claire will leave Paris. The apartment and her contracts can be dealt with. Adrian won't see her again."Margaret's voice was steady, as though she were discussing an employee who had made a mistake."How long has he been with her?"The line went quiet for a moment."About two years."So the answer wasn't difficult to get.My husband simply wouldn't say it himself."When did you find out?""Evelyn, that isn't important.""It's important to me.""A little over a year ago."Holding the phone, I suddenly remembered the

On the night of the dinner, Blackwood Manor blazed with light.Guests came in from all over Europe, and reporters waited outside the gates for pictures of the grandest anniversary that so-called eternal love had ever had.I wore a long black dress.It wasn't the gown Adrian had chosen for me. It was something my mother wore when she was young.Adrian waited for me at the foot of the stairs.When he saw me, there was still open wonder in his eyes."You're beautiful.""Thank you."He held out his hand.I didn't take it. I held the banister and came down on my own.There were still staff around us, and I saw the pain flash through his eyes.But he had his smile back a second later.In seventy years we had both become very good at keeping up appearances in public.The documentary went live halfway through the evening.Screens around the hall played footage of us when we were young, and the live viewer count on social media climbed steadily.Comments rolled past like falling snow.Seventy y

"Yes."I answered calmly.Adrian looked as though he hadn't understood."You want to divorce me?""Helen has the papers ready.""Because of Claire?""Because of you."I went past him into the empty glass conservatory.Adrian followed me in and locked the door behind him.The music outside was shut out, and all that remained was the faint sound of night wind against the glass."I admit I was wrong."For the first time, he didn't deny it."But divorce isn't the only way to punish a mistake. You can tell me never to see her again, you can make me apologize publicly, you can even move back to Hartwell for a while.""You don't get to dictate how I deal with being betrayed.""Evelyn, we've been married seventy years.""And?""You can't erase seventy years over a two-year mistake."There it was at last."I haven't erased anything."I looked at him."The love and the company and the happiness in those seventy years were all real. You saved me, and I saved you. We buried friends together, kept

The next evening, after sunset, I left Blackwood Manor on schedule.Helen and Nora were waiting downstairs.The car stood outside with two suitcases in the boot. Everything else had already gone to France.I had lived here for seventy years, and I left with less than I would take on any holiday.The staff lined both sides of the hall.Some of them had worked for the Blackwoods before I married. Some had grandparents who attended our wedding. They had clearly heard about the divorce, and none of them knew how to look at me.Agnes, the head housekeeper, apologized with red eyes.She hadn't known Claire existed. She had only followed orders as usual whenever Adrian asked for travel records to be cleared. It wasn't until the news broke that she understood what those orders meant."Not every silence carries the same weight," I told her. "But the next time someone asks you to help him deceive his wife, I hope you'll at least ask why once."She lowered her head, and her tears fell onto her fo

I didn't open the gate.Adrian waited a long time in the fog.Even after the bell stopped, he stayed where he was, as if he were certain that enough patience would soften me eventually.In the past it had.The first time he forgot our anniversary, I said nothing for two hours.So he stood in the rain for two hours, until I went out myself and pulled him inside.After that, in every argument, he was always more patient than I was.I always took it for devotion.Only now do I understand that behind his patience there was also a certainty.He believed I could never bear to let him wait."Evelyn."Adrian's voice came through the intercom."At least tell me you can see me."I pressed the button."I see you."He sounded suddenly relieved."Let me in.""No.""You said you'd give me five minutes.""I didn't."It went quiet outside.On the camera I watched him raise a hand and press it between his brows."Seventy years, Evelyn. Even a stranger would get five minutes to explain.""You explained