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"Mary, you know my habits, my likes and dislikes." Victoria stroked Dewey, who mewed as he looked about the room. She opened her mouth but did not give voice to the question she wanted to ask the man. Instead, she pursued Mary. "You've enjoyed listening to Virginia read. You said so yourself time and again."

Shaking her head again, Mary made to excuse herself from the room. "I'll get more coffee."

"If she won't have me," Jake said, "perhaps you should consider her invitation, Mary."

"Mary has a life, too," Virginia erupted. "For goodness sakes, it's about time my sister realized that we cannot be at her every call to satisfy her every bookish whim."

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