Polly asked with a look of ap-prehension. Diana knew she was a mess both inside and out. Weak and mildly nauseated from her exhausting emotional display, her eyes burned, and her hair hung limp and lank about her tear-stained face. She needed no mirror to explain the maid’s alarm. “Yes, Polly. I must have fainted,” she lied. “But I’m fine now.” She rose from the floor on shaky legs, brushing her skirts with trembling hands. “Fainted?” The maid’s brows rose to her hairline. “I’ve never known you to faint before, my lady. You don’t think you could possibly be…” Diana choked on a laugh, a half-crazed sound. “My dear Pol-ly, of that I am certain.” Polly regarded her mistress with a concerned frown. “You don’t look yourself at all, my lady. Mayhap you should take to your bed.” Giving Diana no chance to resist, Polly looped a strong arm about her mistress’s waist and guided her across the room to the adjacent bedchamber. “You sought his lordship earlier,”
