Esther hesitated, then threw up her hands. “Look, why should I have to marry anyone? Why can’t we just live here, like this, together, you and me, taking lovers as we like and raising children together and teaching them to sing to the trees? Why should marriage mean me leaving or someone else staying? I don’t know, Bel,” she said, sighing. “You’re all the family I need.” “But,” said Ysabel, “I’m not all the family you want.”
