joined

to Jeff and his friends. They, too, had remained outside. Jeff nodded and beckoned the three boys to follow him. He pointed somewhere down the edifice. Toward the other side, possibly.
Immediately, realizing what was happening, the women in the room began shrieking. All except Gretchen. Their words were not a ­protest—women of their station did not protest anything—so much as a simple wail of anguish.
Gretchen almost joined that squawling bedlam. Almost. But something in the duchess’ expression closed her throat. The duchess’ mouth was wide open. Her face registered nothing beyond incomprehension and shock.
In an instant, Gretchen realized the truth.
She has no idea what we are afraid of. None! She simply . . . doesn’t understand. How can anyone in this world be so innocent?
But it was true. She had no doubt of it. The image came to her mind,

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