Lydia tightened her arms around him, rocking a little on instinct, trying to soothe even as she felt her own grief well and surge, running through her painfully.

"It's okay," she murmured, but that was a lie. She tried again. "It'll be all right. We'll find a way to make it okay." She didn't know how, though, not now, not yet. How could anything be okay, ever, after what Joseph had done? After what Samuel had done? She swallowed, feeling all the little broken pieces inside her shattering more. "We can't tell anyone. The family...they can't know. They won't understand...They...need Joseph to be what he was in their eyes, they can't feel his betrayal, too..."

It would shatter the family, and they all needed each other. "They need someone to lead them, Samuel, and Joseph to be their martyr, as much as we know different. We'll...think of something to tell them...". Her mind was racing. "That man from the government...the one he was going to give you to. We'll blame him. He killed Arnold's son. He would have hurt you. He's the enemy anyway."