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Chapter 39
The house was abnormally quiet as Nate knocked on the door. He was surprised by the length of wait he had between pulling on the knocker and the footman answering the door.
“I wish to see Mrs. Smithfield,” he said as he handed the footman his card and stepped into the foyer.
The first thing he noticed was the lack of décor. Although still finely decorated, it looked barren in comparison to the way it looked the last time he visited. He followed the footman into the parlor, but did not take a seat. He wired his condolences to Elise when the train stopped in Kansas several weeks earlier, but this was the first he would give them to her face to face. He could not explain why, but he was nervous.
The sound of her soft slippers on the foyer’s marble floor caught his attention. He turned just in time to see her enter the room with the assistance of a cane. She looked tired and saddened, but still very
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