[Back at what was once Ogden Cove]
I gave Mama her cup of tea and whatever else she requested before slowly closing the door to her room and sighing with relief.
She hadn't probed me about my supposed lie or asked further about her torn dress, so I was relieved to be playing it safe for the meantime.
I was about to head upstairs when there was a sudden knock on the door. Thoughtlessly, I went ahead to open it. For some reason, I had become rather brazen after the princess's funeral, knowing that I was less likely to be recognized and put to the spear.
And whoever could there be, standing at the door? Not anyone much of importance, since those people had already come and went much swifter than I would have deemed necessary.
So I was a bit shocked when I pulled open the door and there stood Marquess Huxley with the brightest smile on the face of the Earth.
