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Reggie seemed grateful when the waiter came to take their order. Lucy wondered if he was feeling doubly harassed and thought it might be good for him. But she also didn’t want him to be so defensive that he set his mind against any change.

They spent the rest of their meal in awkward conversation that Reggie occasionally forced. Lucy was disappointed in him, though she tried not to show it. Miss Fournier seemed as if she were desperately trying to pretend that her sadness might yet be washed away.

Reggie felt as if he was gritting his teeth as he escorted the two women back to the hotel. Darkness was falling, and the moon crept up from behind the buildings. For a second evening, when he wanted to be alone with his wife and kiss her like he used to, Madeleine seemed to be in the way, whether in person or in their conversation.

Or maybe Madeleine was just a convenient excuse when there were deeper issues keeping Lucy away from him.

But he wasn’t about to give up. He took a deep breath as he looked up at the moon and let it out slowly, steadily, releasing his frustration, his tension. He looked down at his wife, whose gloved hand rested on his arm, then covered her hand with his.

She glanced up at him, frowning, and he just stared at her, letting his gaze soften as it swept her sweet face. She blinked several times, her frown fading to confusion, then turning into something else. Was she blushing? It was hard to tell in the twilight. When he was in India, he’d thought often of sweeping Lucy into his arms, enjoying the feel of her lush body, the warmth of her embrace. Their reunion wasn’t happening easily, but perhaps their first courtship had come too easy. Perhaps he’d taken her love for granted, assumed the passion they shared would always burst into flame when they looked at each other.

The lobby was lit by gas lamps, and they followed them along the corridors to their respective rooms. Madeleine said a quiet good-night and seemed to look overly long at Lucy. To his surprise, Lucy smiled at her warmly.

Reggie followed Lucy to their room, feeling the need to ask what that was about. But someone knocked a moment later. Reggie allowed the hotel maid to enter and follow Lucy to her room.

He stared at the closed door, frowning. The gas lamps gave a faint hiss from their sconces on the walls, but otherwise all was quiet, as if they were still half a world apart.

They’d never slept in separate beds their entire marriage, unless he’d been with his regiment. Last night he’d felt the loss of her companionship, her rose-scented warmth, her eager passion. Knowing she was so close had kept him awake far too late into the night.

But not tonight.

Back in his own room, he removed his uniform but for his dark trousers and shirtsleeves. When he heard the maid leave, he walked barefoot through the suite and knocked softly on her door.

“Yes?” she called.

Not exactly welcoming.

He took a deep breath. “It’s me. I’d like to come in.”

There was a long pause.

“I’ll meet you in the sitting room,” she called.

“No, I’d like to come in.”

Would she really refuse him after the life they’d led together?

“Very well,” she said.

Tension unwound inside him, and he opened the door.

She’d turned down the wall sconces and had the simple lamp lit beside her bed. The window was open, and Lucy stood beside it, dressing gown closed clear to her throat. The sound of waves on the beach was a distant hum.

He inhaled deeply. “Even after a long journey, the smell of the sea is invigorating.”

She turned away from him and looked out. “I can just see the last pink of sunset.”

Reggie walked up behind her and did the most natural thing: put his arms around her from behind.

One would have thought him a stranger, the way she started and stiffened.

He pretended not to notice, burying his face against her neck and murmuring, “And here is another scent I find invigorating.”

She held her hands awkwardly, rather than settling them over his. He knew better than to touch her as intimately as he used to. Once he would have cupped her breasts, and she would have sighed her delight before turning to embrace him. But the way she kept herself so reserved, so distant from him, made him feel like he was courting her all over again—not that she’d ever been reserved with him before.

The sadness of their broken marriage momentarily overwhelmed him.

But he was not a man who quit when he wanted something—he knew the love of his wife, and he definitely wanted it back.