"I, too, know what it is to lose: my
mother, when I was very young." And in that moment it did not seem
strange to him to speak of this, his greatest secret and
vulnerability, which he hid so tenaciously from others.
"Stephen." She spoke plainly, though she was not sure herself what she
felt, sitting there so close beside him. "You came in the hope of
becoming in some way intimate with me. That has already happened; I
ask you to think of me as your friend. And as a friend, I have
something to ask of you."
"You know that I would do anything." And he colored to hear himself
speak.
"Thank you for saying that just now." She laid her hand lightly on
his, feeling the shiver it caused in him. Half against her will she
left it there, and felt his grateful fingers close around hers. "Would
you take me riding today?" she asked. "Without expecting anything in
return? More than anything right now I want to go somewhere wide open
and free, where I can think, and feel alive. I need someone I can be
alone, with. Do you understand?"
"I think so.
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