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Pierce was Porter. This young man had been named Porter. Pierce had called her his daughter. Was she somehow related to Will? |
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Never mind that now. She had to think. "Will, did your mother ever call you Billy?" |
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Stopping in his tracks, he appeared startled. "How did you know that?" |
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"Never mind. But have you ever considered how she might feel if she knew you planned to kill Thorn?" |
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The drizzle had stopped again. Will removed his hat and shook it. Beads of water flew everywhere, some showering Mariah. But he looked agitated, as though trying to distract himself. "I've thought about it." He sounded defensive. "I remember Thorn from when we were here. My mother seemed to like him. Ainsley told me Thorn and my mother were . . . very close." He hesitated. "That might have been another reason my mother killed herself, Ainsley said: not only losing me, but finding out, too, that Thorn was nothing but a rake who'd let me be stolen while he flirted with another woman." |
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"I see. And Ainsley told you this?" |
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"Yes." Will restored his hat upon his head and walked again in the direction of the Point. It was close now. Much too close. "But Ainsley was reluctant, you understand. He did not wish to discuss anything from that time with me. Thorn is his friend." |
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Thorn's friend. Mariah's mind was racing. Thorn had told her that Ainsley had been his friend from childhood. But he fed Thorn's feelings of undependability. And he'd revealed to this young man things that encouraged him to hate Thorn. |
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She hadn't time to figure that out now. They had reached the confluence, the muddy triangle where the two swiftflowing, swollen rivers merged into the third. |
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The place where the duel was to occur. Thorn would die. |
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Mariah's heart beat a tempestuous, frightened rhythm inside her chest. He'd told her he loved her, but that hadn't been enough to keep him from coming here. Nor had her admitting her love for him. |
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