Chapter Sixteen
Friedrich agreed to see Marianne despite grave misgivings. He opened the door himself when she rang the bell of Old Hickory Manor the evening following Miklos’ surprise visit.
Sitting in the Master’s formal living room, the large space seemed to compound her troubles. She’d hoped they could have talked in his study like conspirators, but the openness of the room was apparently what Friedrich preferred for their meeting. It wasn’t surprising that he distrusted her after the way she left him.
“I swore to you that I wouldn’t return,” she opened the conversation. The previous silence between them was almost deafening. She was nervous, but she had to get by that. “I guess that was a lie, among many.”
“Oh?” he answered noncommittally.
She looked at him, not knowing where to
