"A gravedigger's got the weight of someone's whole world on her shoulders some days," Mercy says. Her smile stays where it is. "That's what my Granny says, anyway. Heavy loads is something I been carrying for a long while. But I reckon you ain't so much a stranger to those, either, sir."

She takes a deep breath and places a hand to her chin as she considers him, sizes him up. "Thinking you wouldn't be so bad to carry on your own. The coffin'd be hard, but that's just a box being ungainly. Could probably still drag it."