Secret for a Nightingale (56 page)

She stood up and said: “I don’t know what to say except I’m glad you know.” I didn’t think it would be like this. It’s been a dead weight on me ever since it happened. I didn’t think I could take any more.

”

She looked at the lake.

“It seemed peaceful,” she went on.

“I thought one night when it was quiet …”

“Oh, Eliza, I’m glad you told us instead.”

“And him …” she said.

“To offer me this way out.. , well, I dunno … I really dunno how anyone could be like that about someone who’d tried to murder ‘em.”

“Well,” said Damien, ‘it is easier for a sinner to understand people’s little foibles than it is for a saint. And when you understand, you forgive. You’ve got strength, Eliza. You’ve got courage to do what you think is right. You’re capable of loving . wholeheartedly, and believe me, that’s not a very common attribute. You know how to put a loved one’s interests before your own. I admire that. You’ll have Rosenwald outstripping Kaiserwald in no time. “

She looked at me and her smile expressed relief and above all hope.

She was looking into a future which she had believed was lost to her forever.

She nodded towards Damien.

“I never knew anyone like him,” she said.

“No,” I replied.

“Nor did I.”

4is

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