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“Hyacinth”

She ignored hi the seam where the baseboard met the floor

Gareth watched her for several seconds before re, “I’m quite certain you’ve done that before”

She spared hi to inspect theframe

“Hyacinth,” he said

She turned so suddenly that she almost lost her balance “The note said ‘Cleanliness is next to Godliness, and the Kingdom of Heaven is rich indeed’ ”

“In Slovene,” he said wryly

“Three Slovenians,” she reminded him “Three Slovenians read the clue, and they all reached the same translation”

And it certainly hadn’t been easy to find three Slovenians

“Hyacinth,” Gareth said, as if he hadn’t already uttered her name twice…and countless tined tone

“It has to be here,” she said “It has to”

Gareth shrugged “Very well,” he said, “but Isabella has translated a passage from the Italian, and she wishes for you to check her work”

Hyacinth paused, sighed, then lifted her fingers frohter had announced that she wished to learn the language of her namesake, and Hyacinth and Gareth had hired a tutor to offer instruction three s each week Within a year, Isabella’s fluency had outstripped her mother’s, and Hyacinth was forced to es just to keep up

“Why is it you’ve never studied Italian?” she asked, as Gareth led her through the bedroom and into the hallway

“I’ve no head for languages,” he said blithely, “and no need for it, with my two ladies at my side”