“She probably doesn’t even know she’s in love with you yet, but she’s getting there in stages. On Ootyoce, she started calling you a ‘he’ instead of an ‘it.’ I saw you together that first night on Gondra, I can imagine approximately what took place. She at least tolerated you as an equal, and finally had to remind herself what you were. Just now in the Vortex, when the boat was hit, she clung to you for help, rather than to me as she normally would have. She kissed you a little while ago, and was talking to you at dinner like you were an old friend. Slowly but surely, her resistance is eroding. She’s still afraid to admit it to herself—”
“Why?”
“Figure it out for yourself. For one thing, she’s always fancied herself an independent woman, not needing anyone else to lean on. Love would wea
