At the first shot they would all throw down their arms and
run away. Deceit, manipulation, love. These are the weapons they
employ.
"But as witnessed here, there are a few scattered instances of honest
character, of a woman standing up to death. But almost always it is
done in the defense of her immediate family: her husband, her child.
That is what puzzles me here. Having threatened her own life
unsuccessfully, I took the next step, as I taught you long ago:
threaten the thing she is trying to protect, and mean it. But even
this brought no result. Why? At such times one must draw back, look
beneath the surface, examine motive
.
"The implied motive here is to protect her niece alone, but I do not
believe it. No woman is willing to die for the bastard child---oh yes,
I know!
---of her sister-in-law, and a man she both fears and detests. Perhaps
she raised her from a child? Still not enough. We must look for some
deeper relationship.
"Did you see, when she thought I meant to kill her, the way she hung
her head, and reached down into some secret place she believes I
cannot touch? Whose image did she turn to in her moment of need? For I
tell you, Stephen, she was prepared to die.
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