Emrys pulled his lips tighter over his teeth as she spoke. Actually, settling somewhere abroad and presenting herself as a more recent widow with a small child wouldn't have been a terrible idea, all things considered. She would have the child that she seemed so attached to, and her continued freedom. She could remain free of him and the inevitable disappointment that entailed. The only piece of the plan that he couldn't agree with was the sentiment behind it: that she would be living in such conditions because he hadn't chosen her. If she began a new life with that in the back of her mind, it would feel less like the escape that he was pictured and more like an exile. He could not see her exiled, even voluntarily.

He weighed his words carefully before he responded. "If you still intend to carry it to term," (she had given no indication to the contrary at any point) "Then I believe our current arrangement will be most comfortable for everyone."

Most comfortable was a relative term, of course. Emrys did not expect it to be comfortable for either of them.

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