After a further twenty minutes of waiting, with the plane set to take off in forty minutes, Tara Summer started to feel the urgency.
The butler pressed his lips together in a smile, but not daring to go upstairs to knock on the door, he could only wait helplessly.
Another ten minutes passed, and finally, a man and a woman descended the stairs.
Walter Schmidt helped Emily Stone down the stairs, the woman wrapped her arms around the man's arm, her cheeks flushed red, and that shy look elicited an even more ambiguous smile from the two people waiting downstairs.
With time of the essence, upon reaching the hall, Emily Stone immediately went out; she wouldn't allow Walter Schmidt to send her off for fear of another prolonged, hard farewell, worried they might not leave at all today!
Walter Schmidt did not insist, as he was also worried he couldn't bear to see her go, so he truly didn't send her off.
