A look of utter shock came over her face and she stopped mixing. "I'm sorry... I.. can't imagine what that must have been like. Did they arrest him?"

That thought made her shiver more.

She gave a shrug and didn't say one way or the other if he got arrested or not. To be honest, most of that night had been a blur.

Rose bit her lip and started kneading her mix. "I'm sorry that happened to you."

"It happened, but it will be alright... I think it changes a person profoundly... but I am taking it and doing this... Life is... short. Fleeting even." She moved then to knead at dough before rolling it out.

Rose looked at her. "That's true. Well I think you're very brave!" And she gave the other girl an encouraging smile.

"Oh, no. I am just an ordinary girl." She said before pounding at the dough with her rolling pin, then began to roll it out to go into her pie plate. "With an appetite for the world now."

Rose grinned. "Well that's good." She started preparing the oven tray. "Is your family alright with ye livin' alone?"

"Everyone but my mother. She is bemoaning my independence. I say a woman can be as good as a man any day! Besides, it's her I want away from... and my sisters, perhaps." She chuckled and fluted the pie crust before docking it and adding a wax paper sachet of dried beans to act as weights, sticking the crust into the oven to bake.

Truth be told, Rose did believe wealthy ladies were delicate and dependent. Among her own class, she had encountered some very strong women. Her own grandmother had raised her family alone. And Rose liked to believe she too was strong. But even she would not go live alone. No one was completely independent. The girl's desire for independence reminded her of Simon. Well, as long as she didn't end up stabbing anyone, there were worse things. "Don't you miss them?" She stated putting dough scones on a tray.

"I miss my brothers, but we aren't that far apart. They are but an hour's drive away." She closed the oven door and dusted her hands on her apron. "We could always visit one another."