Return of the Reborn Princess novel · Chapter 9 of 24

Chapter 9: Dessert

The Weatherford house in Fox Chapel had no steps at all.

It had long ramps of pale stone, doors wide enough for two chairs and a long quiet hall.

My room was at the end of the east wing.

It had a big bed, a window onto a garden of pear trees, and a bathroom bigger than the Lacey kitchen.

Conroy's room was at the opposite end of the house.

I had counted the doors on the way.

Nine.

On Monday evening the hospital took my forty-one thousand dollars, and Conroy's check covered the rest.

On Tuesday Amos was moved to a room on the fourth floor, with Poppy asleep in the chair beside him.

On Tuesday night I sat down to dinner in a stranger's dining room across a table from my fiancé.

The cook set down a dish of roast chicken and left without a word.

We ate in silence for a while.

The only sound was the clink of forks and, outside, the wind in the pear trees.

I kept thinking about his leg under my palm.

I had been thinking about it for two days.

"You are not eating," Conroy said.

"I am."

"You have moved the same potato three times."

I put down the fork.

"Can I ask you something?"

"Within the terms."

"Why did you agree to marry a girl you never spoke to?"

"Our families arranged it," he said. "My father is dead. My mother wanted me settled. Howard Drummond wanted a Weatherford on his side of the table. It was a reasonable arrangement."

"You could have said no."

"I could have."

"Why didn't you?"

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