17/02/2026 16:17

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'There is worse. Do not beconcerned about me, Stephen. He simply did not know what it was. I cannot do this without you.

when as a boy of twelve Ipened a book from my uncle's library and found inside a single page tornfrom a much older volume. She continued another forty-nine years, before dyingone summer morning in her bed with the leaf shadows of a great ash-tree andthe broken sunlight falling all around her. The footman gave a short, uncheerful laugh. They both had piles of books in their hands.