Elfrieda balked at the rebuttal of her cousin. There was no getting through to her. Rowan was not a sentimental person, she was blunt and loyal to her family; she was not likely to take mercy on her life. For a terrible moment, she felt a sliver of grim relief at the fact that now it would all tumble down, as she watched Rowan's angry back move towards the door. All she wanted was love. Under that pretense, she married. For love, this farce would find its end.
Of course, the dull and brutal truth was not yet apparent to Elfrieda.

"She will go to Clifford. I am sure," she whispered to Don Juan. They took each other's hands and she held them as tightly as she ever had and ever would. "I don't know how long."
She bit down her sobs as she looked up into his face. "Now it will all come out into the open. I don't know what he will do. It will be terrible."

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