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She launched herself forward, cringing to hi it

Please, God, she thought desperately Don't let me own a husband

Without Ian, she wouldn't want to live

Chapter Nineteen

The next , Selena woke early and went outside She loved the twilight hours of dawn and dusk when the sun was a brilliant, colorful glow that obscured the horizon and painted the still-dark world in shades of purple and red and gold As always, she wore only her nightgown She cared little that the lacy heh the trees, that she ca feet

What mattered were the sensations, the thousands of tiny unexpected pleasures A rass against her ankle, the icy slickness of the beach stones beneath her feet

She walked through the forest, touching everything, stroking a dozen leaves, noticing their different textures and scents Birds twittered down at her froh in the spruce and pine trees

Invigorated, she plucked up her soggy, dirty he toWhen she reached the house, she expected it to be full of people, but unfortunately, everyone was still asleep

With a sigh, she went to the parlor and retrieved her stitchery, snuggling into a comfortable leather chair to wait for the rest of her family to awaken

Beside the chair was the ebony japanned notion box 238

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that Maeve had given her Lifting the lid, Selena ain at the colorful spools of thread and yarn She chose a bright purple and began to work

It took almost three minutes for her to lose interest- this was an improvement, and she was pleased Yesterday she'd lost interest immediately The small, white circle of fabric, drawn taut by a wooden hoop, taunted her, reers didn't work correctly Nor she noticed except at mealtimes, but tasks like this were an unavoidable reminder There was a curious tie between her brain and her hands, so Ian called motor skills, and hers were impaired

She laughed at the thought Who cared? She didn't want to make needlepoint, or eat, for that matter; she did both only to please Maeve Selena herself saw no need for another pretty pillow in this house What Lethe House needed was gardens, lots and lots of gardens, where the flowers bloos of sunny days and brilliant blue oceans And laughter, always hter

The study door creaked open "Lord, Selena," Johann said, stu into the room "Don't you ever sleep?"