She had been away for quite some time at finishing school, and now she was just getting off the train to go home to see her family for holiday. The girl looked beautiful in her traveling gown, polished and refined just the way her mother wished her to be, but there was no smile on her face when she hefted one side of her trunk with a gloved hand and dragged it toward a nearby bench without letting a man help her. It was only clothing and some books, it wasn't overly heavy for her. She did not sit on the bench, but rather, the trunk and she took a deep breath as she relaxed.

She had deliberately told her family she wasn't going to be home for another week just so they wouldn't send the carriage for her. She needed time to sit and catch her breath.

Pearl was not prepared to be around her sisters, in particular, specifically the second oldest who had left school early to be married, only to be jilted and now was filled with remorse and it was just too much. Of course, she would never tell her sister to stop crying over that, she couldn't imagine having it happen to her and was glad she never found a love interest in a man as of yet... Even still, though, the emotion was much too overwhelming and one needed time to fortify themselves.

So she sat, peering down at her hands which were clutched together in her lap.