“Though not only that.

I chose the stone of it carefully.” And I understood, hearing that, that I had not been chosen at random or in haste, the way a drowning man grabs the nearest floating thing.

Arthur had watched me for months before he ever made his offer.

He had seen me care for his sister when no one was watching, seen my hands shake at the hospital’s call, heard my whole story and weighed it, and only then had he decided.

That should perhaps have frightened me, the knowledge that I had been observed and assessed like a candidate for a post I did not know I was applying for.