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“I don’t wish to cry off,” she said, even though she’d already shaken her head Sos needed to be said aloud

“Then you will have to help him,” Violet said “With whatever it is that troubles him, it will be up to you to help him”

Hyacinth nodded slowly, too lost in her thoughts to offer a ful reply Could she help him? Was it possible? She had known him barely a month; he’d had a lifetime to build this hatred with his father

>He ht not realize that he needed it Men never did

“I believe he cares for you,” her mother said “I truly believe that he does”

“I know he does,” Hyacinth said sadly But not as much as he hated his father

And when he’d gone down on one knee and asked her to spend the rest of her life with him, to take his name and bear him children, it hadn’t been because of her

What did that say about him?

She sighed, feeling very weary

“This isn’t like you,” her mother said

Hyacinth looked up

“To be so quiet,” Violet clarified, “to wait”

“To wait?” Hyacinth echoed

“For hi for hiiveness for whatever it is he has done”

“I—” She stopped That was exactly what she’d been doing She hadn’t even realized it And it was probably part of the reason she was feeling so miserable She’d placed her fate and her happiness in the hands of another, and she hated it