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“Hyacinth, I—”

The words jarandmother No one knew the truth except for him and the baron

For ten years, Gareth had kept it inside, allowed it to grow and fill hi but a secret Nothing but a lie

“I need to tell you soly, and sheout of the ordinary, because she went very still

And Hyacinth was rarely still

“I—My father…”

It was strange He’d never thought to say it, had never rehearsed the words And he didn’t kno to put theether, didn’t knohich sentence to choose

“He’s not my father,” he finally blurted out

Hyacinth blinked Twice

“I don’t knoho my real father is”

Still, she said nothing

“I expect I never will”

He watched her face, waited for some sort of reaction She was expressionless, so completely devoid of movement that she didn’t look like herself And then, just when he was certain that he’d lost her forever, her ether in a peevish line, and she said:

“Well That’s a relief, I must say”

His lips parted “I beg your pardon”