Dru cocked one corner of her mouth up in a corkscrew smile. "No," she chided, squeezing both of Mor's hands. "You were made to be fearsome." Spinster had the sound of failure; Mor had not failed to secure a match, and she was not the sort of person who failed generally. She had been dealt a difficult hand in life, but she and Dru were twin souls: they soared higher than their circumstances. Perhaps someday one of them might even deign to be normal — but she hoped not.

"But if you don't marry him," she continued after a moment, the mischievous look in her eye fading and her expression becoming more solemn, "It will be spinsterhood, you know. Because people will talk, and you oughtn't to expect another offer. Is that what you want?"

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