
On Hallingham market day, surgeon Richard Davenal stopped his carriage when poor Mrs. Her only son was weaker despite the medicine Richard had prescribed alongside the parish doctor's care. You step into this one-chapter preview with Marcus Cray at the center, where choices turn on the people, promises, and pressure already in the room. Before this afternoon ends, at least one claim upon my judgment will refuse to wait its turn. The chapter closes on a continuation question rather than resolving the novel's larger arc.
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