"It's been longer than that," she said, sighing, suddenly tired. "It's a complicated story. Mister Vaughn and I met on the train the day Frederick left me and he offered me a place ta land safely as an employee, ta give me a fresh start. I'm not marryin' him fer his money, I am marryin' him because he's the kindest person I've known and I love him genuinely. Why, when someone called me a bad name, ye should have seen how he fought the man fer his disrespect. He's only been good to me and I'll not have ye treat him like ye treated Harold." She said this as a warning. "Stop scrutinizin' me fer bein' lonely enough ta think I was in love with Fred. That's all it was. This is different." She didn't yell, she didn't scream, she actually spoke calmly. Harold Jr crawled to her feet and started tugging at her skirts to be picked up, "Close me door now, please." She knelt momentarily to pick up the little boy who looked so much like his father.