Anne stood up and gestured at where she had sat. "Please sit down, Mary. You don't look well." And if the other woman allowed, Anne would help her sit down, before sitting down next to her, hand still on her shoulder. She squeezed it gently. "I'm so sorry to hear all that has Magnus inflicted on you. I knew he preyed on you, but I had no idea of how he treated you after. Of course he refused to say anything about it, and I was too afraid of him to press him. He just told me to raise poor Pearl as my own and would hear no more about it." She shook her head sadly and sighed. "I always assumed you had abandoned her. That was of course what he wanted. I should have seen through it. He's an animal. He's treated me worse than an animal would. I should have known he was cruel to you, that you were the victim, rather than let him play us out against each other... He will rue it."