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Despite the silvery, soft breeze blowing in from the

ocean, I felt as though I had fallen into a furnace My

face was flushed, ,

seemed to have sunken in my chest, the thump, thump,

thuh my body I shook my head "I don't knohat you've been told, Grandma,

but it's all a mistake Robert Royce is a very, very nice

young man, Grandma He--"

"He comes from a family of innkeepers," she

said, practically spitting out the words, as if they were

bitter in her mouth "Do you knohat an innkeeper

is, Laura? How they started to be? These are people

who had nothing, no family name, no reputation

Practically destitute, they open their own homes to

strangers, clean up after them, wash their toilets and

sinks, serve them food, cater to the wishes of