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Show nm 188 She searched his face, then moved from the door to let h: enter. "I'll go tell her you're here," she said. "Mrs. Bonner will be willing to receive you, most likely. She was considerably distressed when she learned you'd left Canaan." Karl hid his astonishment at Mary Margaret's eloquent speech. She not only sounded far more cultivated than any of the rough-spoken Culleys ever had, she looked stylish, even in her maid uniform. Her red-gold hair, the same color as Jame's, no longer frizzed, but was swept upward into smooth curls underneath the maid cap. She could look people in the eye now, and speak to them without a tremor in her voice- Yulyona, the dedicated teacher, must have taken Mary Margaret in hand and found her to be an avid pupil. "May I take your hat?" she asked. "Uh...no, I'd like to keep it with me. I'll just hold it in my hand. Would that be all right?" "Certainly. Please wait here. I'll announce you." Mary Margaret moved gracefully down the hall -- even her posture had improved. But Karl was too nervous to think about her. His heart thudded in anticipation of seeing Yulyona. "Mrs. Bonner requests that you join her in the drawing room," Mary Margaret said when she returned. "She has already ordered tea. Please go in through the last door." Inside the door, Yulyona waited for him with her hands outstretched. "I'm so glad you've come, Karl. Heavens! How could you have matured so much in just two weeks? But then, today is your sixteenth birthday, isn't it? Please take off that imposing coat -- |