Rowan stood perfectly still behind the thick, dark leaves of the hedge, his breathing turning shallow. He waited for his aunt to laugh. He waited for Aunt Margery to tell Delaney that she was being foolish, that she was never leaving Hamilton House, that she belonged here with him forever.
Then, Aunt Margery replied.
"It is entirely up to you," Aunt Margery's voice carried clearly across the lawn. Her tone was calm, practical, and completely serious.
Rowan gripped the rough bark of a nearby tree. His knuckles turned white.
"Do you want to leave quietly in the morning," Aunt Margery continued, offering the devastating choices, "without saying goodbye, to spare yourselves the pain of parting? Or do you wish to wait until he is awake, and then you bid him farewell?"
Rowan blinked. He stared blindly at the dark leaves in front of his face. The world seemed to completely stop spinning. The breath was violently knocked out of his lungs.
