he said, struggling for his next breath. “I prayed that you would.”She twisted her arm free and backed away, clutching her cloak closely to her body, chilled by the cold and the apparition of death she could sense hovering near his emaciated body.One gnarled hand lifted toward her, and she shrank away. He had never lifted a hand in kindness toward her, her mother, or Paul, and she felt overwhelmed by his hypocrisy. Her hands curled into fists and she fought the overwhelming need to turn and leave the house, to allow him to die alone in his misery.“Closer, girl. You have no need to fear me any longer. Can you not see that I’m wasted?” He coughed and blood bubbled through his lips. “Closer. Near me. Stand near me. I haven’t long…”“Why now?” she demanded, refusing to move nearer. “Why have you not given a moment’s thought of me the last years? Did you not realize that I—”“Forgive me. ’Tis all I ask.”He blinked at her, limp, wheezing, a bloodless cadaver with slack mouth and eyes grown dim of life.“Forgive you?”
