“Alright,” she said quietly, not smiling because she was still worn out. She could do with a good night’s sleep, she thought as she curled her toes to stretch her cramped feet. “I doubt I’ll change me mind though,” she said with a tilt of her head. Her eyes, weary as they were, peered at him thoughtfully.

When he said he would have his staff collect her things for her, she was about to protest but decided against it. Was she doing the right thing? She hoped so. She was tired of traveling in general and needed a place to call home that wasn’t marred by bad memories like that cheerful, yellow house of hers. Yes, it was better to get out before something else bad happened.

“That would be lovely, thank ye,” she said eventually in reply to him. Her toes curled again, she bit her lip in discomfort. Perhaps she would have to get up and stretch too, but was she ready to fully trust someone with her infants without her presence there? Probably not just yet, especially after Fred, and she hadn’t let him be alone much with the babies either.

“Twill give me somethin’ ta do,” she said quietly. “I’ll not lie and say it’s me dream to do laundry, but it’s honest work.” She wanted to nurse again, she thought, even though that would be a harder thing to accomplish when one had two little ones to tend to. She reluctantly admitted to herself that she would have to trust strangers with Niamh and Harold if she were to work again.

When horses were brought up, she perked a little. “I love horses,” she said.