“How very odd,” I said desperately, as if it could help cover the obvious lie my cousin gave.
Eli glanced at the letter, still folded in my hand. He waved dismissively. “Go. I trust you,” he said.
“Thank you!” I cried. “Thank you!”
In a moment, I was around the corner. My hands trembled as I stared at his letter, his letter that, try as I did, I could not bring myself to open.
I considered all the terrors it might contain– the name of his skeleton, the realization that the feelings we had discussed were fictional, the possibility that in my inability to surmount my own, I had crippled the future of our relationship and casted him straight into the arms of yet another,differentwoman…One who was pretty, or smart, or even liked horses. One better for him!
Willoughby said, “Are you going to open it?” and I nearly leaped into the air, startled.
“God, cousin!”
He steadied me, catching my elbow. “Svana. Do you need me to?”
“Yes. Please.” I looked up at him, then nodded, chaotically passing it. I whined as he read over it once and not aloud.
“Is it very bad?”I asked.
He knit his brow. “I don’t know.”
“What?” I snatched it back. “How do you notknow?”
When I read the words, I understood. The letter wasn't evenaddressedto me.
You’ll forgive me for departing before we could speak again. It felt strange to leave without telling you, but I think it was a necessary decision.
There are things left unsaid between us, and though they may be unwelcome words, they, too, are necessary for clarity.
I’ll find you when I return.
Regards.
“D-Daniel,” I asked.
“Yeah?”
“Does this readromanticto you?”
“I really couldn’t say,” he said.
“Yes. That’s how I read it, too,” I said. My lip quivered nervously. “He’s left. He’s left because I was awful to him. I’ve broken his heart.”
“He wasn’t in particularly poor spirits when I saw him,” he said. “Does that help at all?”
“No!” I groaned. “When did you see him?”
“I don’t know… A few hours ago? He left just before sunrise.”
“And that was it? He didn’t say anything? Anything about me? He just said, ‘Here! Give this to the Princess,’ and then he left in good spirits?”
“Svana,” he said. “The letter, it feels guarded, not malicious, but no, it does not read romantically. I do have to ask… And it is an overstep, but for the sake of aiding you… What does ‘unwelcomed words’ mean? What do you mean you broke his heart? Did you have a fight?”
“No,” I croaked.
“Because if you had a fight, I could perhaps navigate you out of it,” he explained. “Men don’t think the way women do.”
I held the letter tightly to my heart, shaking my head and trying to explain. “It wasn’t a fight, it was, I was trying to protect him,” I said.
