She had been there for three hours, waiting for her lover. It was a warm summer night, a beautiful night, and a night made for romance. The scent of blossom was on the air. She almost expected a nightingale to start singing. No doubt there were many lovers plighting their troth under the midsummer moon but she had a feeling that there would be no happy ending for her. She had suspected it for a while, known how foolish she had been to risk all on the one throw of the dice and give herself to a man in the hope that it would make him love her. Love did not work that way. He had taken all that she had offered but he had given her nothing in return and the cold, creeping dread in her heart told her that he never would. She had gambled and lost. She remembered her childhood again and how gambling and losing had always stalked her happiness. She thought of Devlin, who had always tried to protect her from the danger and despair that had threatened them. Dev would be so disappointed in her now.
