<blockquote>I’d heard that are-you-leaving-me? wobble in dozens of voices over the years; the answer was nearly always yes. But that wasn’t all; Olivia was worried about me, bless her, a High Vor lady suddenly deprived of my home and visible means of support. What was left of my own dowry was enough for me to live modestly for several years, but modesty had never been one of my virtues, as Olivia knew. In fact almost all that money had already been spent, or good as.
“We have to talk,” I said.
Lady Donna has a proposal for Olivia.</blockquote>
