She wasn't feeling well and hadn't been since the night before. She lay in bed sniffling with the cold that had gripped her, coughing and muttering miserably from her bed as her maid tried to wake her up with a reminder that she needed to finish her article. "Ugh, later. I still have a week and only a paragraph. Send a message to my appointments that I will not be receiving anyone today as I am terribly sick... well... not terribly... But I certainly feel terrible." She paused to cough and blow her nose into a dainty hanky, then continued with, "Then visit the butcher and buy a chicken, the baker to buy some bread, and the market for onions, celery, carrots, and herbs to go into a soup. I'm afraid I need to spend today at home."

"Yes, mum," said the girl. Pearl gave her a purse of money and sent her on her way. Now to relax, she thought and yawned deeply, rolling reluctantly out of her bed and pulling on her robe over her nightgown, feeling feverish by that point. She caught the maid just as she was about to head out and added, "And stop at the pharmacy to get something for my cough. Oh, I hope you remember everything."

Except that she had forgotten something important, herself. She was supposed to go visit her sisters the day before and with the cold setting in, it had slipped her mind. That and the last people she wanted to see were her dramatic sisters... one who was petty and jealous, and the other... well... it was hard to be around someone who couldn't get over a man who was probably well over her... not because she didn't love her older sister, but because there were no words of reassurance she could give that she hadn't already given. Pearl tried hard not to upset Olivia, it was like walking on eggshells... but at least Olivia wasn't an ungrateful wretch like their eldest sister... At least there was that.

Pearl sighed and flopped on her settee, loathe to climb the stairs to get back into her bed when every joint ached like the devil.