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An hour later, Elise still sat inside of Sterling&039;s wagon, staring down into the basket He was touched in the head if he thought that she would dress in nothing but transparent scarves and dance around in public She was an adventurer, not a wo he had chores to attend to Elise lanced toward the closed wagon door During the daylight hours, the wagon certainly heated up There wasn&039;t h it was tall, built in sions of the Gypsies

There was the cot, a trunk where Sterling kept his clothing A sturdy washbasin and pitcher, which he wrapped and put ahen the wagon moved, and a couple of lanterns She wondered what else his chest held besides clothing She would snoop if she weren&039;t so blasted hot

Elise smoothed her hair, rose, and brushed the wrinkles from her frock She decided that she wouldn&039;t hide herself away in Sterling&039;s wagon but venture outside A bustle of activity took place around the camp No one took time to stop and stare as they had earlier In the process of skinning a rabbit, Sarah Dobbs nodded to her The woon wheel Elise saw Mora in the distance gathering wood

The hustle and bustle surprised Elise She&039;d heard that people like these were lazy and that that hy they preferred their roa but noticed Dawn, the s a heavy bucket of water in each hand The girl struggled with her burdens Elise decided she would help as well At least until she figured out her next plan of action

She joined the girl "Let ed and offered the bucket in her left hand Elise took it, surprised at how heavy it was, and plodded along behind the girl They reached a large pot and Dawn duet the pot filled and Mora gets a flaars, but we&039;re not dirty beggars, as my mother says"

Elise sain the girl shrugged "She&039;s a dwarf, as some call them So is my father But as you can see, I&039;m not like thelanced away "I need to fetchthe eirl had taken from her "Since I&039;m at a loss as to what to do, "

"If you wish"

They walked in silence She felt Dawn&039;s regard

"I suppose your parents are normal?"

Her first instinct was to answer to the affirmative but then, that wasn&039;t completely true "No Not by society&039;s standards, anyway My father carand family, and my mother&039;s family was a modest one at best My father saw her in the market at Liverpool one day, and he fell in love with her on sight She fell in love with him that very day, as well They married in secret, and when my father&039;s family found out that he had wed beneath him, they disowned him"

"What does it mean to disown soe him as one of their own," Elise explained

"Can a person do that?" Dawn&039;s eyes widened "Just up and disown their faue she read in Dawn&039;s expression; she liked it less when she caught sight of the girl&039;s hter, then resumed her work

"I think it&039;s a horrible practice," Elise said "Love between faer than you are when I lost both my parents to an accident I still miss them terribly"

They reached a small stream and Dawn dipped her bucket into the water "At least your parents didn&039;t look different froet a chance to play with other children, they laugh and tease me once they realize who my parents are"

Elise squatted beside Dawn and dipped her bucket into the water She had reacted to the sight of Dawn&039;s parents in a way thatin Iris&039;s eyes a hter

"It&039;s the other children who should be ee a person by what they first see On the inside, your parents aren&039;t any different froh I&039;ve only just met them, it is obvious to reed, then stood, struggling with her full bucket "But soirl "Love is everything," she said, and realized she truly ed to be loved and cherished by soreed to Stoneham&039;s offer for her, Elise had realized that he truly did not care about her She felt certain that Dawn&039;s parents would never give her in irlthe heavy bucket toward camp Elise stared down at her own reflection in the water Another iave her a start She hadn&039;t seen or heard his approach "What?" she breathed, glancing at hi?"

How long had he been listening to her conversation with Dawn? "I suppose I do," she admitted "Don&039;t you?"

He reached down and retrieved her bucket from the water "Love is a curse forhearts full of love for a girl who cannot forgive their small bodies Few people possess the ability to love unconditionally Nowhere on earth can you learn that lesson as well as here"

"Daill see what isfro and hasn&039;t yet learned the value of love"

He reached forward and brushed a curl from her forehead "You are the innocent Even an animal will turn on one of its own if it senses a weakness, so different"

Flustered by his closeness, Elise said, "People are not animals"

His silver eyes stared into hers "There is a thin line, I think"

Since he now held her bucket, Elise started back toward camp "Maybe you spend too h ti the others"