No one in the crowd doubted Byron Thorne's words in the slightest. Nor did they stop to wonder why a scare from yesterday had taken a full day to take effect. They became righteously indignant and began speaking ill of Phoenix Golding, despite having had a rather good impression of her before.
The Thorne family had always stuck together. If a Golding wronged a Thorne, the Thornes were bound to condemn them. The relationship between the Thorne and Golding families had always been delicate. Ordinarily, they were on friendly enough terms, but as soon as a matter of principle was at stake, the two families would immediately draw a clear line in the sand.
