shawl and returned it to her before he ushered them down to the boat which had returned to ferry them the thirty feet to the riverside. Fotherby remained silent as he stepped ashore and followed Lord and Lady Barrington back to The Sun Inn. The silence felt entirely different to the silence that had clung to him as he had journeyed out in the misty half light, but now he felt too exhausted to say anything. It did not matter, however, for Portland and his wife were happily raining praise upon the surgeon.

“Please carry on,” Fotherby said softly as Portland announced their intention to eat. “Only, I am so weary, I hardly slept last night. I think I shall have to lay my head down.”

Having excused himself from his guests, Fotherby walked up the stairs and collapsed onto the bed...

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