Tristan had meant her physical illness. He had not considered that the insanity was not temporary, though he knew that she was struggling with painful emotions.

“It’s alright,” he quickly said when she began to cry. “No- nobody is going to take your baby away, Pippa.” The new information raised some considerable new difficulties for her future, but he decided that now would not be the right time to speak of them

And then it came, the admission. She truly had suffered insanity for longer. The pistol in his desk drawer had been purchased in vain. But he hardly felt relief.

He moved back to sit in an armchair and was quiet for a moment. He watched the poor lonely child whose face was now averted in shame. He knew what had to be done.

“He's in your mind, Pippa. We must treat this illness of the mind if he is to leave you alone. I have a good friend who runs a hospital near York. I respect him very much as an alienist and it’s a very decent hospital. If you could stay there for a little while, they might be able to make the hallucinations stop.”