Because they had more than an hour until dinner, Hope and Ayala decided to walk through the palace garden. The oppressive heat of summer had decreased, signaling the arrival of fall. The trees had likewise turned a brownish color, and the leaves were starting to fall as the wind picked up. In the evening, as the chill deepened, the two women had the fortitude and aptitude to accept the changes in their lives.
Hope saw that the view of the woodland was once again wonderful. The ruins of the trees destroyed by Drake when he descended in the shape of a dragon during the wedding had been removed, and there was little evidence of the tragedy.
