"There is no need to keep apologizing," Ulrich said, watching Monika still crying apologies.
Monika looked up a little.
"I explained what happened. That is all."
She nodded, though it took her a moment to trust that he meant it.
There was no promise in his explanation. She understood that. He had not said anything that changed the distance between them or invited her to imagine a future he had never offered. He was simply making certain she did not continue believing something untrue.
Yet the fact that he had chosen to do so mattered.
He had noticed that she was hurt. Rather than dismiss it as a servant's foolish concern, he had put down his pen and spoken to her about it. Monika could not mistake that for more than it was, but neither could she pretend it meant nothing.
Perhaps that was why she found the courage to ask another question.
