Speak not to me of what I deserve. Thou know it not. 'Twas my own damned soul set me after thee. All the while, I was a-thinking, better it be me.

[ Perhaps she'd have left her room with more selfish intent if the threat had, instead, been a promise. If she had seen Caleb, who was good, or Father or Mother, and been told they'd be restored to her if she took a life, it might have been different. But it was not, and she doesn't care how good this girl she'll never know is, or isn't. Good people die terribly all the time. Speaking of which! ]

And if 'twere Dylan, standing there? Adorabat? Would any of us have escaped that night?