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She was furious with him for not listening to reason. |
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But she couldn't let him die. |
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Mariah looked up, praying for a miracle, but she didn't find it in the weather. Though clouds still scudded across the sky, a brilliant blue shone between them. Dampness hung in the air in the mud-lined spot where the rivers met at the Point, but the heavens no longer wept. |
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And Mariahhow could she keep herself from needing to cry, much too soon? |
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She tried to recall something, anything, from the screenplay to use to keep Will from proceeding with this travesty. "Will, what if I told you that, if you kill Thorn now, your soldiering career will be over?" |
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That hadn't been clear from the script, for the story ended right after the duel. It had been implied, however. |
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"It won't. Ainsley said he would protect me, if necessary. And others will understand, too, that I have to avenge my mother." |
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As if he'd heard her, he appeared in the distance with Thorn, on the path along the Monongahela. He carried a rectangular wooden box. |
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It had to contain Thorn's weapons of choice. |
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Why hadn't Will been there to observe the selection? He couldn't trust Thorn to pick something satisfactory. |
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But Ainsley was Thorn's friend. |
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She watched silently for minutes that passed in an instant as the two men hurried forward, proceeding much more quickly than she had done with Will. |
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Coming here, toward the Point. Toward the inevitable duel. |
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Mariah grasped for something to stop it, finally recalling what Will had last said. "How, Billy? How can Ainsley protect you?" She knew she sounded desperate now. |
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"He will make certain the captain understands. He has influence, you see." |
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"If he has so much influence," Mariah asked, "why is it he is only a sergeant?" |
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