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it behind Will. "Yes," said the young, bearded soldier. "But the evil old bastardexcuse me, missdidn't want to confront my mother. She'd already gotten a job at the tavern, you see, and begun making friends. Instead, he sneaked around, waited for his chance." He paused and looked back at her, a sneer on his face. "Thorn made it easy for him. Grandfather probably waited till Thorn was the one in charge of guard duty; Ainsley told me Thorn already had a reputation for dereliction of duty.'' |
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Ainsley? Thorn's good friend? "What do you mean?" |
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But Will had already greeted the sentinel and headed over the fiat bridge, his boots clumping on the wooden boards. The noisily flowing water in the ditch below was dirty brown. |
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On the other side, Mariah walked at Will's side on the mud-covered path along the Monongahela and past the buildings that made up the Low Town. Toward the Point. |
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A feeling of dread constricted Mariah's insides. The time approached much too quickly. She'd done nothing to stop the duel. |
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"Will," she said in desperation, "if your grandfather stole you away, don't you think he bears a little responsibility for what happened to your mother?" |
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"Of course." He turned a cold gaze on her. "Once he had me all to himself, he tried hard to raise me as a 'gentleman' patterned after him, though he was anything but a gentle man. He made quite an effort to eliminate what he called the taint of my mother's low blood. But I wanted nothing I had left of my mother eliminated. When I was old enough and escaped, I told Grandfather Porter just what I thought of him for all he'd done. I told him I was taking my mother's maiden name: Shepherd. And I told him I would never return." |
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Porter. Why did that name sound familiar . . . ? Of course! That was the name of the Pierce character in the screenplay, the one who had told Matilda she had to right the grievous wrong. |
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A pounding began in Mariah's temples. The past was intersecting with her present in a manner she didn't understand. |
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