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"Me and René." Holly approached him, picking her way over the uneven bank of the stream. She was not a tall woman, and she seemed to gather courage as she walked. "We'll both stay. But first you'll need to hire me, you will. I've decided to stay till I make some decisions about my future. But I'll need a position. May I work for you?" |
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Thorn glanced toward René, who stood at the edge of the stream, the sparsely filled bowl of salt in his hands. There was a pleading in the Frenchman's glance that Thorn could not discount. Still, René said scornfully, "We do not need another Anglaise here, one who will wish to be waited upon and be paid a wage." |
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Holly trod toward him. The angry stiffness of her gait nearly made her trip on the rocky ground. "I've been helping for no wages, monsieur." Thorn's French was skilled enough to understand the English-accented butchery she had made of the word, and he was certain it was deliberate. "Or have you been sleeping too deeply to notice?" |
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"I have noticed that you do a little here, a little there" |
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"And I will do a little more to show you what a no-good" |
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"Enough!" Thorn shouted. "René, with all the guests we have had recently, and my other new servant's lack of skills, we need more help. I will hire Miss Smith for a period of two weeks. If she proves satisfactory, then we will decide whether to keep her on." |
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Relief stole across René's ugly features, nearly making Thorn laugh aloud. But a small voice beside him said, "I suppose you don't really need me." He looked down to see Mariah Walker staring unblinkingly, yet there was a moistness in her eyes. With the others arguing, he had not thought of her reaction. He wished now to pull her into his arms, to reassure her that he needed her in a way he could need no other woman, to |
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But how foolish. That was not what she had meant at all. Nor what he intended. |
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Mariah Walker meant nothing to him. She never could, for if she did, he would destroy her. |
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"You still have a debt to work off, Miss Walker." He let |
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