She sighed deeply, meeting Lottie's gaze. Tears still clung to her lashes, suspended there like a crystal on a pendant necklace. The young missus was calm again after that much needed cry. She was exhausted. "I know I would never treat my children the way she treated me. Like I was some burden," said in a ragged and somewhat nasaly tone. Added to that, she hadn't even been paying attention to her body otherwise. It dawned on her that she wasn't on her cycle yet. She didn't say anything though, she just went a shade paler than she already was and looked down into her cup.

It didn't mean anything, did it? It was only a few days late, right? Right. She had been under a lot of stress, after all, it could have been just that. Chaos was still afoot. She had contributed to it, wasn't exactly clear of blame. She felt the guilt eat at her at how the events had played out but the fact of the matter was that what was done was done.