Alice was relieved that the man left them alone, but his final words still rang in her ears. She turned to her cousin. Lory's face did not put her at ease. She looked mortified. And when she spoke it sounded unnatural. This was not the confident older cousin she knew, the girl who always seemed to know how to handle situations. Why hadn't she done anything to stop that horrible man? Her tongue was as sharp as any fisherlass's if it needed to be.

She already knew why.

Alice put a hand on her cousin's back. "He was awful," she tried to comfort the other girl.

Awful as the situation was, for the time being, she felt like a person again.

"Lory... what 'e said... It's not true, is it? You wouldn't... wouldn't do that, would ye?"