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Gareth opened his mouth to speak, not that he had any idea of what to say, but Hyacinth wasn’t done

“I know I should be quiet, and I know I should leave well enough alone, but I can’t I just can’t do it” She looked at hirab his shoulders and shake “Do you understand?”

“Not a word,” he admitted

“I have to know!” she cried out “I have to knohy you asked me to marry you”

It was a topic he did not wish to revisit “I thought you said you didn’t come here to discuss my father”

“I lied,” she said “You didn’t really believe me, did you?”

“No,” he realized “I don’t suppose I did”

“I just—I can’t—” She wrung her hands together, looking more pained and tortured than he’d ever seen her A few strands of her hair had cos, probably the result of her anxious gestures, and her color was high

But it was her eyes that looked the e disco

And he realized that that was the thing about Hyacinth, the distinguishing characteristic that set her so apart from the rest of humanity She was always at ease in her own skin She kneho she was, and she liked who she was, and he supposed that was a large part of why he so enjoyed her company

And he realized that she had—and she was—so s he’d alanted

She knew her place in this world She knehere she belonged

She kneho she belonged with

And he wanted the saht down to his soul It was a strange, almost indescribable jealousy, but it was there And it seared him

“If you have any feeling for me whatsoever,” she said, “you will understand how bloody difficult this is for ?”