The Littlest Library

by Poppy Alexander

He too preferred to quietly watch, just like her. She saw this now, not as aloofness, but—in his case—the calm reserve of the quietly, supremely confident.

as Ms. du Maurier tells us herself,” he said, opening the book and reading, “‘I will shed no more tears, like a spoilt child. For whatever happens we have had what we have had. No one can take that from us.’”

“Sometimes we play tricks on ourselves. We find excuses to hide from our feelings because we don’t want to see the truth for what it really is.”