He had her there. The thing he was holding — the dead weight — was her mother.
"Oh," Henrietta said from behind her hand. She was cold, and she couldn't tell if it was from the wind blowing on her or something else, something inside. Hit her head. Mama would have preferred a different way to die, probably, if she'd been able to choose. She probably would have preferred a longer life, too, if she'd had her druthers. Her life had been abbreviated by the fall. Mama had once told Henrietta that it was common to rush through anything; a lady should always take her time to do things to perfection. Would she resent having a sudden death?
Not as though her opinion on it mattered now. Henrietta realized that with a start: her mother's opinion on anything didn't matter now.
She shuffled her feet and hugged her arms around her chest, trying to keep the warmth of her body in and shield herself from the wind as much as possible. "You should let go," she said quietly. "If you stay in the water you might catch a cold."
"Oh," Henrietta said from behind her hand. She was cold, and she couldn't tell if it was from the wind blowing on her or something else, something inside. Hit her head. Mama would have preferred a different way to die, probably, if she'd been able to choose. She probably would have preferred a longer life, too, if she'd had her druthers. Her life had been abbreviated by the fall. Mama had once told Henrietta that it was common to rush through anything; a lady should always take her time to do things to perfection. Would she resent having a sudden death?
Not as though her opinion on it mattered now. Henrietta realized that with a start: her mother's opinion on anything didn't matter now.
She shuffled her feet and hugged her arms around her chest, trying to keep the warmth of her body in and shield herself from the wind as much as possible. "You should let go," she said quietly. "If you stay in the water you might catch a cold."
