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She had kept his son from him

Anger built within hiradually getting hotter Until the heart of it was as fiery a red as Lady Meg’s hair

“Will the priest be here tomorrow?”

The general’s voice was querulous as he asked the question for the dozenth ti if he felt as tense and anxious as she did He certainly looked gri, since he had put Lorenzo in the cell with the iron grating set in the floor beneath the storeroolad her father could not see their faces—he would not find much to celebrate if he could

“The priest will come with all haste, father He will surely be here tomorrow”

“He had better! I havefeast, Meg! Why has it taken you so long to find a husband, eh? Well, well, I won’t complain I am happy with your choice”

He held her hand in one of his, and with his other, reached out tohere he sensed Gregor stood Gregor glanced questioningly at Meg and then clasped the general’s hand in his The olda wondrous act, pressed their two hands together

Gregor hesitated, and then his fingers closed on hers, war anywhere but at Gregor, wishing herself anywhere but here They were not an ordinary couple—this was not an ordinary situation They werebecause of desperate circumstances—why did her father have to pretend it was otherwise?

“Father, please!”

And yet she could not really begrudge hior Grant hoed, and to join her name to his It was a cause for celebration If it had been anyone else but herself playing one of the central roles, Meg would probably have been cheering along with the general

“I am a happy man,” her father went on a little petulantly “Why should I not be? Out of catastrophe has co Otherwise you would not have gone to fetch Gregor home There, I have said it!”

“Father, do not say such things”

“General, I do not think—”

But it was no use, the general did not wish to hear their objections, or perhaps he could not Gregor had begun to wonder whether the oldhad believed Over the past days, his conversation had been amemories and complete fabrication He had many lucid ly vague It was clearly distressing for Meg, who had enough to contend with just now

Gregor conquered the urge to take her in his arms and hold her She would not thank him for it Ever since their decision, she had withdrawn into her oorld, within her own strong self-contained walls Gregor knew that breaching them would not be an easy task