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Certainly not Jery—so appalled and horrified

Thank God he ay at the ht she’d nearly cracked in front of hith than she could bear to use to hold it together until he had gone But now at least she had a couple of days without hi to cheer her She glanced at the clock on the wall Even noas probably walking around Pycott with the builder, realising just how daunting the task ofit even partially habitable would be without the

Despair crushed her If only she could go to Aristides! He would give her the enerous, and his heart would beto do But she could never go to hie had come to its abrupt premature end

She was trapped—trapped on all sides There was nowhere she could go, no one she could turn to

If only she could go to her mother and Geoff! They couldn’t help financially, she knew that, but just to see theet out of here, flee so…

But soe Sometimes when she fled from the unbearable, what happened thereafter was even worse

Like when she had fled the island…

She pressed her lips together No, leaving the island had been essential And Je surprise she had clung to But she still could not tell hih her

And if she did run away again this time it would be even worse! Her mother would ask questions, want answers Would want to knoas that she had done what she had…

No, she was trapped Trapped here, in the prison of her enforced silence

I can’t tell anyone—I can’t tell anyone what I’ve gone and done…

Nu a hand across her weary forehead, she called up the master file of the report she’d compiled, and slowly and laboriously started to retype the corrections

They took a long, long time to do

Around her heart a cold, tight shell of despair was for

Theo crossed to the drinks cabinet in the corner of his study He normally never went near it unless he had a visitor But the visitor on his way into the house noould not be offered a drink