Miss MacFusty's words were affirming enough, but the long pause before she answered and the tension in the air spoke volumes. Juliana chewed the inside of her lip nervously while she waited. She didn't really know what she had expected. She didn't know whether Lachlan MacFusty had told his family anything about her — either in the beginning or since their interaction a few days ago. She didn't know what Miss MacFusty would have known about her, and from what sources — whispers from Marianne Finch, her own words from the article, something from Lachlan, or a combination of any of those things? And she didn't know what assumptions she might have made about her, beyond whatever she had heard. Miss MacFusty's hesitance, then, was understandable. When she finally agreed, Juliana let out a quick breath of relief, but only for a moment. This next statement was even more potentially fraught than asking for a favor in the first place, and it was with no small amount of nerves that she delivered it.

"I was hoping you might return this to your brother," she announced, holding out the large package in front of her.

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