Melody's gaze dropped from him then, the expression on his face both too familiar and telling for her to look for a second longer. The walk had been so long because he was readying himself for the fight to come, not because he had any desire to stay. Last night was a fluke fueled by overwhelming emotions, and so nothing about it could be genuine. If she had thought herself the fool last night when she expected his departure, then now she might as well have gone to be a jester for the queen.

"I'll give you some time with her then, if you'd like." She had to step away and collect herself, otherwise the conversation they needed to have would happen now and it simply couldn't. "You can use whatever you need in the house - there's a basket of her toys in the parlor and her pram is in the closet by the front door if you'd rather go for a walk. I can make myself scarce."

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