( He's straining, thinking, mulling over — swishing saliva in his mouth, when the water's gone. He waves for more. What'll he do within the hour? Piss himself silly, he supposes. )

Must have been a governess of some kind. Man of Matthias' coin. Liked to throw it on things. Most men would get another wife, but he never did, after the missus died.

( Here, his brows seem to perch and wriggle, tellingly. ) He wasn't one the women would have rushed to claim.