Isabelle let out a long slow breath then patted the bed beside her, gesturing for him to sit. She moved Jean-Claude’s hat out of the way.

It occurred to him, in his daze, that she’d let go of Jean-Claude’s hat to clutch his arm. Of course, that was only practical. She only had the one solid arm.

But she could have let him walk out.

He sat; the rope weave under the mattress creaked.

“After you’ve issued your apology, it’s up to me to decide whether I accept it. This may take time, and it is a decision with which you should not interfere.”

“Ah.” Bitterlich eased away. “In that case I should be going.”

“Stay,” she said, and he subsided.

“You hurt me, you know, ripped my heart right out. I don’t think you meant to, but you did. There ought to be some penance for that.”

“Whatever you command,” he said, but what could he do that would atone for such a grievous wound as he’d inflicted?

“I used to say I didn’t understand revenge, but now I have a long line of ancestors who thrived on it. I do understand it now, but I reject it. Suffering is not commutative or conserved.”

“Which means?”

“Spreading it around just makes it worse. I don’t want to hurt you.”

“So … what happens next?” Bitterlich asked. It was damnably hard to take direction if she wouldn’t give him any.

She said, “A wise man once told me, oh about four hours ago, that fear needs a second chance. He didn’t specify, but I’m pretty sure the second try should involve a different plan, on well-chosen ground, with appropriate advice and counsel from trusted allies. Now, speaking as your trusted adviser, I advise you that the alliance you are proposing should be built on trust.”

“Am I proposing an alliance?” he asked, hardly daring to hope she was inviting him to try again. “I thought I was flopping about like a fish in a forest.”

“Hush. You listen while I talk, before you step on another rake. Understood?”

Bitterlich did his best to look receptive.

“Good. Now, mistakes have been made, but not, I think, with ill intent. Your first mistake is trying to solve the whole problem all at once. This is a big complex relationship you’re talking about creating. You have to do it by stages, with participation from both sides. Sometimes you may even have to solve bits of a different equation that don’t even seem to be part of the one at the heart. Do you see?”

Bitterlich only nodded, for he did not trust his tongue. Babbling was his enemy.