“The very best confession, dear.”
“Will you have some?”
He had laid the cloth upon her knees.
“No, child, not yet. Can you bear to be left alone awhile?”
“I am quite brave now, John. But—”
“Well, sweetheart?”
“You are not going far?”
“No. Only into the tower to get the rope which is not mine to leave. Is there anything that you would wish to take?”
She looked down thoughtfully, her dark lashes sweeping her cheeks.
“There is a book, John, bound in red leather. I would not leave it here—because—it has helped me—taught me—almost as much as you have done.”