The rest of the day went along without any hitches. Arabella was left to her own devices since she'd come back from the gardens.
The young woman ran a warm bath and lounged in the tub to unwind, gently massaging her muscles to unbind the knots that the day had left behind.
Through the great window facing the tub, the stars in the night shone bright, remarkably embedded against the midnight blue coat varnishing the sky.
Arabella wondered whether her mother counted among those precious beads that hung far away out there in the vastness of the cosmos, watching over her every decision and action… Would she have been proud or let down by Arabella's choice to flee home?
"Arabella?" Katherine's voice shattered the bounds of her daze, calling her name from behind the door of her room.
"Come in!" Arabella hastened to stand and picked a towel large enough to cover all of her important bits.
