By the time Claudine re-joined them, Marjory was virtually hysterical with nerves. She'd tried to keep her mind distracted but no matter how had she tried, nothing occupied her thoughts for more than a moment. It was hopeless.

If truth be told, she was worried not only for her friend, but for herself as well. Nothing like this had ever occurred in all the years that she'd walked this earth and now no matter how she looked at it, there were only two possible outcomes to this situation, and both of those were becoming less desirable as she considered them more.

Firstly, there was the possibility that their meddling would cause more harm than good, and would be the final wedge that would tear Audrey and Richard apart once and for all. This would make life even more impossible than it already was, where Marjory would have to try and juggle a friendship with both of them without mentioning the other for fear of hurting them even more. Not to mention what it would do to Audrey and Richard, most particularly the former.

In the past few weeks, Marjory had watched as her best friend had begun to wilt before her eyes. It was like she was still alive, but not actually living anymore. She had seldom left the lodge, stopped getting involved with local activities and, from Brabinger's concerned account, she had cried herself to sleep almost every night. At least on the nights that Audrey actually managed to get to sleep at night. Marjory knew that Richard would be equally as distressed, but he could leave Grantleigh whereas Audrey never would.

And then there was the second outcome; Audrey and Richard would make up and admit their feelings for each other (because there was no way that they could get through this and remain just friends, as Claudine had confidently assured them). Of course this should be considered the more desirable outcome of the two, but it still brought a cold fear to Marjory whenever she thought about it, which she had done a lot of in the last couple of days.

She wasn't against the match exactly, quite the contrary, she wanted Audrey to find happiness and her Mr Right (God knows that Marton certainately wasn't even close), but she was scared of losing her oldest friend. She knew Audrey would never shun her completely, but she wasn't sure that their relationship wouldn't change if Audrey and Richard got together. Would Audrey still find time for her? Would she consider Marjory as a threat to her? Would she still treat her as the friend who had shared every laughter and tear since their school days?

"Did it work? Are they alone together?" Mrs Polouvicka all but leapt at Claudine as soon as she approached.

Claudine did not reply with words, simply holding up a small golden object that glistened dully in the light of the glimmering chandelier.

A key.

"Are you sure about this?" Marjory fretted, feeling all her previous worries rise up within her and closing around her windpipe. "I mean, Audrey's going to be no less than furious that we deceived her and then locked her in a room with Richard."

"Do not worry so much Ms Frobisher." Marjory felt a twinge of irritation at the woman's breezy smile and calm demeanour. Did she not realise how much was at stake? "If this goes according to plan, then I guarantee that Mrs fforbes-Hamilton shall feel nothing but joy for the rest of the year."

"And if it doesn't?"

"Then that is a bridge that we will have to cross when we come to it." Claudine's carefree demeanour melted into a more solemn and contemplative one. "We cannot be the ones to end this disagreement. To be done properly, it is down to Mr Devere and Mrs fforbes-Hamilton to make amends with each other. The best that we can do is provide the opportunity for this to happen."

"I just feel that we have done so little." Marjory sighed in frustration. "How can you be sure that they will even forgive each other?"

"Because Ms Frobisher, the most undeniable of apologies," A sly smile curled Claudine's mouth. "is one that comes from the heart."

"It's locked." Richard sighed, giving up trying to giggle the door open. There was no point wasting his energy trying to open it, they weren't going anywhere for a while. Besides, there was no doubt that he'd need it to weather the storm that was brewing.

"What do you mean it's locked?"

Here it comes. "Somebody has locked us in from the outside, meaning that we can't get out."

"Isn't there anyway to get it open again?" Audrey's voice was beginning to crack, filling Richard with the desire to comfort her. He was sure, however, that she would not welcome any comforting from him.

"Not without a key."

"Oh well that's just brilliant then." She huffed, flopping onto the nearest settee in a very un-fforbes-Hamilton like manner. "We're trapped in here until someone comes and lets us out again, which will be God knows when."

Richard sat down on the opposite settee to her's. "What were you doing in here anyway?" He said, trying to take their minds off their current situation.

"Waiting."

"For?"

"Mademoiselle Dutoit if you must know. I was giving her a tour of the house and she needed to visit the ladies'." Audrey glanced at Richard from the corner of her eye with curiosity. "What about you?"

"Marjory told me that Lord Painsthwaite wanted to speak with me, and I was to meet him in the small library." He began to chuckle, shaking his head lightly.

"What's so funny?" Audrey felt herself growing more frustrated with the whole situation.

"Well isn't it obvious? We've been set up."

"By Marjory and Mademoiselle Dutoit?" Audrey exclaimed, quick to catch his meaning.

"And no doubt mother too." Richard agreed

"Well really. Why on earth would they do something like that?"

"To get us to talk to each other no doubt." Richard looked intently into her eyes, causing her to turn away in embarrassment. "Desperation makes people do otherwise foolish things."

"You would know all about that, wouldn't you?" She quipped bitterly, refusing to allow him to reclaim her gaze.

"Audrey…" He sighed, running a hand through his dark hair.

"No." She snapped. "There is no excuse you could give me to justify what you did."

"What I did?" Richard finally felt his patience snap. "What about what you did?"

"This is ridiculous. I don't have to listen to this." She arose from where she was sat and made her way across the room, towards the door. "We may be stuck in here but that doesn't mean that I have to speak, or listen, to you."

As she stormed past him, Richard jumped from his seat, grabbing her arm firmly and spinning her to face him. Her eyes widened as he took a step closer and tightened his grip on her. "Oh no you don't." He growled. "We're going to talk this out Audrey. No matter how much you huff and puff or grumble and yell at me, we are going to sort this once and for all."

I had some free time again today (which was a nice surprise) so I thought I'd start working on the improvements that I wanted to make and post this for you guys as soon as possible. I'm kind of excited that the end of this story is nearing, but I'm also quite sad that it's nearly over. I've really enjoyed writing this and it's going to be quite weird knowing that I will no longer need to update this story anymore. Still, we've still got a little longer so I hope you can all still find the will to carry on with this story, and leave me a little review (;

You've all been wonderful readers and I can't thank you enough for actually showing an interest in this. xxx