Donne had been in the audience, a spectator of this exclusively aristocratic masquerade, a watcher not a participant, as always. By now, further guest... had swelled the numbers in the hall, the musicians struck up and the dancing began. By choice, he withdrew, deliberately an observer on the edges of society.He only had eyes for one slight figure twirling in the throng. She might be masked and in costume from the earlier masque but she was instantly recognisable to him. His heart missed a beat. "And I don't think I could go through it again."Linda knew he referred to the death of his first wife from cancer. She smiled determinedly. "And I'm pushing her hard, I know. The deal is this: I stop pushing her and you stop trying to coddle her."Mike hugged his one time lover and still dear friend. "Deal."As the two senior officers prepared to depart the Academy Superintendent asked them to demonstrate the course to the current cadet class. Neither of them had to be asked twice. Soon a cadet. Tariq wanted to continue, hopefully to find a way to leave his post.“How’s Khozem?” he asked.“Just fine. He knows you’re arriving today.”“I wonder if he has kept up on current events instead of getting bogged down in study all the time.”Tariq unpacked the light items of kurtas, pants, and handkerchiefs. His collection of skull caps were tightly run over metal bowls to keep their shape. He delved into a bag loaded with books in Arabic: The Hadith and the Sunnah and an unabridged Qu’ran along. She quickly scurried into her bed, wrapping herself around a pillow and biting back tears. The bed still smelled like him, she could imagine just where he had been lying when they woke up in the morning. She had promised herself she wouldn’t feel this again. She couldn’t breathe as she felt her heart ripping apart in her chest. The silent tears that fell down her cheeks were more a reaction to the intense pain then the earlier events. She had done the right thing, though, and that was what was.