2

Hannah's POV

I stood in the store waiting on the order I had made, it had been a week since I visited Walter's house, so I had no knowledge of whether or not Patience had gotten the book from Patsy.

I wanted to stop by today, but I had been busy with adding the finishing touches to my house by the lake away from the outrageous castle my father had bought.

I preferred the simple life, my home only had two bedrooms, three baths a living room, a kitchen, and two small offices compared to my father's that had triple the times of everything I had listed, and the man lived with my stepmother. All that space for two people was ridiculous, but their status in society was too important to live in anything but that.

I had everything I needed in my home with exception of food which would explain why I had been in the town for an hour, getting everything I needed since I didn't plan on returning for some time. Tired of the judgmental stares I got from the townspeople.

"Ms Gails," a voice I had grown to appreciate called out and turned to see Patsy behind me her head down since other people were present in the store.

"Patsy, how are you?" I asked softly as she moved to stand in front of me.

"I'm doing okay, I just came to pick up some bread for Mr Walters," she replied and I smiled.

"I could give you a drive home after this I'm done with the town for the day,"

"That is awfully kind but I promised Ms Patience I would meet her by the clock so we could walk home together," she replied using formalities since the people in the store had taken an interest in our exchange.

"Nonsense I'll just drop you both home," I replied and she nodded, as the man returned handing me my order I took it waiting until Patsy got hers to leave the store we made our way to the car and she gave me directions to the clock from here, where I saw Patience standing with a bag in her hand.

I stopped beside her and she smiled as she noticed Patsy and I.

"Coming?" I asked and she smiled getting in, I started the car driving off. The drive to Walter's house was silent none of us speaking. I believed they were both enjoying the ride since this would be their first time, so I made no move to disturb the peace that had settled in the car.

The moment Patsy got of the car, Patience cleared her throat the sound earning my attention.

"I read the book," she announced as I drove off and I frowned not being able to tell how she felt about it with those four words.

"Why did you think?"

"Her poems are...different," she mumbled and I laughed slightly.

"Different bad or different good?"

"Different interesting,"

"Do you have a favourite quote or did you-"

"When anger spreads inside your breast keep watch against an idly barking tongue,"

"Page 19," I mumbled and she laughed

"You memorized the book?"

"It's a good book,"

"I won't disagree," she mumbled and I glanced over to her meeting her gaze for a split second.

"Do you have a favourite quote?" She asked softly

"Whatever one loves most is beautiful"

"I don't think I've gotten that far,"

"You haven't," I mumbled knowing she was just pages away.

"What does your quote mean to you?" I asked referring to the one she had mentioned earlier.

"Never let your emotions cloud your logic," she announced her meaning aligning with mine and I looked over to her to find her appreciating the passing trees a smile greeting my face.

"And yours?" She asked motioning to the line I had offered as she turned to face me.

"That love is beautiful, no matter who or what you love," I replied softly looking at the dirt trail before me, since the people in this town travelled by carriages, there weren't any roads to-

"There are a lot of those in the book, just one line across the page with no context,"

"That's because I had that book made, I took my favourite quotes and placed them together," I confessed

"So what's the story behind your quote?" She asked and I smiled nervously as I glanced over to her clearing my throat before saying.

"Are you sure you want to know, it's rather boring,"

"I don't think you have the ability to bore me, Hannah," she replied her words probably meaning a lot more to me than it did to her.

"The line is actually from Sappho 16, it is a love poem, the genre for which Sappho is actually best known, it praises the beauty of the narrator's beloved, Anactoria and expresses the speaker's desire for her now that she is absent. It makes the case that the most beautiful thing in the world is whatever one desires," I explained looking over to her and she smiled.

"You're different from anyone I've ever met," she mumbled and I laughed turning back to the road before me.

"I could say the same about you," I replied

"I'm no better than anyone in this town, I blend right in,"

"Don't ever downplay how special you are, you stood out enough to gain my attention, you're the closet thing human I've met all my life," I replied amused and she laughed slightly.

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Hope you enjoyed the chapter ❤️‼️