married off his daughter

her. He draped a heavy, wool-scented blanket over her shoulders and retreated to the threshold.

“Why?” she whispered into the dark.

“Why what?”

“Why take me? You have nothing. Now you have nothing plus a woman who cannot even see the bread she eats.”

She heard him shift against the doorframe. “Perhaps,” he said softly, “having nothing is easier when you continue reading …