British director Guy Ritchie arrived in New York from London Monday evening, joining Madonna and their three children after a weekend spent apart which prompted many to speculate that the couple is breaking up.

Madonna and Guy Ritchie have long been placed under the microscope by the media, with many looking for telltale signs that their marriage is dissolving. A weekend spent apart could only fuel the speculation.

Madonna has been in New York, preparing for her upcoming “Sweet and Sticky” world tour, which kicks off Aug. 23 in Cardiff, Wales.

People magazine reported over the weekend that both Madonna and Ritchie attended Kabbalah meetings, only on different sides of the Atlantic Ocean: the pop star in New York, at Manhattan’s Kabbalah Centre, and Ritchie in London.

Neither was wearing a wedding band, to which Madonna’s spokesperson, Liz Rosenberg, has said, “Madonna has rarely worn a wedding band over these last six years, so there’s no secret message about that.”

It was only a couple of months ago that Rosenberg was trying to dispel break-up rumors as she explained in a statement that the reason Madonna had been making public appearances by herself, with no Ritchie in sight, was because each had a busy schedule that did not allow reunions.

In mid-March, Madonna addressed the growing whirl of speculation through a statement issued by Rosenberg, which curtly said, “Mr. and Mrs. Guy Ritchie remain happily married.”

The statement went on to explain that the two spouses had been busy with conflicting schedules, each living in separate countries, each focusing on their own projects.

Madonna was preparing the release of her newest album, “Hard Candy,” at the time, as well as the premiere of her Malawi documentary, “I Am Because We Are,” at the Tribeca Film Festival.

Ritchie meanwhile was working on the postproduction of his new film “RocknRolla” in the U. K., filming a Nike commercial and “working on several scripts.”

“All is well and wonderful in the Ritchie household,” the statement concluded at the time.

Last week, the London Times contradicted the supposed happiness in the Ritchie household, by reporting that Madonna had consulted renowned British divorce attorney Fiona Shackleton, who represented Paul McCartney in his bitter divorces from Heather Mills.