“I don’t wish to marry,” she repeated herself. “I don’t wish to be courted. I don’t wish to be wooed, cajoled, teased, or what have you. Why is it bad for a woman to wish to be more independent?” She tilted her head. “People can forget or remember all they like, my lord, I don’t care. I’ve never fit in at school and my siblings drive me mad, and I never wanted to marry in any case. Why, if I said I was going to pledge myself to the church, people would be just fine with that… but to pledge myself to work? Heaven forbid my newfangled way of thinking, right?” She gave a smile then. "I will be just fine."