Chapter 5

“Isn’t love a wonderful thing?” Such a silly thing for him to say, all things considered. Love, or at least something he likened to it, had resulted in his current dead predicament. “Shouldn’t you be happy?”

The choked laughter that bubbled out of Tibbit surprised Seamus. “Isn’t that what Hollywood and love songs would have you think? I have this feeling,” he said, tapping his fingers against his chest, “it eats away at me day and night. It’s like a vast numbness that somehow aches and it feels as though I’m being devoured. Desperate longing, maybe that is the best way to describe it. Perhaps torture is another way.”

“So tell the object of your affection how you feel, dear Tibbit, release this burden that consumes you.”