Abby bit her lower lip as he began to cry again, and she was just reaching for him when his hands found hers. "I- no, Thomas, I didn't- I didn't die. I was ill, and it was months before I- I wrote you, every week, sent you hundreds of letters, and I never- by the time I could get out, it had been over a year with no word, and I couldn't- you were angry, and wanted nothing to do with me-" She broke off, frowning. "What baby? The baby was stillborn- they- they told me!"