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She helped bathe the wound while he avoided looking at her. |
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What must she truly think of him now? He had purported to run away when she was in mortal danger. But he had relied on his knowledge of Ainsley before making that decision. Despite all, Ainsley had always been a man of determination. His goal had been to injure Thorn, not Mariah. |
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Thorn sighed raggedly, swabbing the ugly wound that he had caused. "Please, Ainsley," he said. "I need to know why." |
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"Am I dying?" came a soft voice. "Probably, and that is good. I've no wish to live now. All has failed." |
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"Hear me." His voice sounded surprisingly strong, though it remained low. "You wish to know why, so I will tell you before I cannot. I thought I helped you by what happened with your brother, and had we stayed the middle one would have met a like fate. My ambition then, you see, was to become the assistant to the squire of the area. Perhaps even to succeed him should he, too, meet an untimely death." He gasped as Thorn prodded for the bullet, which was still inside. |
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Thorn had not intended to hurt him further, but his anger rose despite his sorrow for the man he had injured. "I see," he said with deceptive softness. "Go on." |
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He continued trying to find the bullet. Mariah, as squeamish a woman as he had ever met, earned his further admiration as she silently helped. Will looked on. |
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"You were so aggrieved by your brother's demiseand your supposed role in itthat we bad to leave. We came here, where there was to be opportunity for all. I thought that at the frontier I would rise above my background, even above yours. But you were soon captain. And I, even after all this time, remain a sergeant." He turned his head and spat to the side. |
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"Jealousy," murmured Mariah, blotting a rag against the still-bleeding wound. |
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"Needless," Thorn replied. "I was no better than him or anyone else. Worse than most, perhaps." |
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