“If it had not been you, there would have been somebody else he would have found for me,” Richard said.
There was silence, then Benedicta asked,
“Do you still – love her very much?”
“Only in my mind.”
He closed his eyes before he added,
“I know it’s hopeless – impossible – I know exactly what she is, but I still want her!”
“I can understand that,” Benedicta said, “and that is why you are right to go to India – to get away – everything passes and gets better with time – even pain.”
“That is what I hope will happen, but I cannot know she is so near and not try to find her.”
“I – understand,” Benedicta repeated.
“You don’t wish to marry me, do you?” he asked with sudden anxiety in his voice, as if he had not thought of her before.
She shook her head.
“No. I told the Duke last night
