The water is lukewarm, the smell of roses still lingering in the air. Sibella lies in the water, though she has long since finished bathing. Lionel is out for the evening, but Sibella has not accompanied him. She has not left the house for nearly six days.
Eyes red and puffy from crying, she leans over the side of the tub to place the glass in her hand on the floor, next to the almost empty bottle. Turning her head to the right, she sees Lionel's straight razor sitting on the edge of the tub. Picking it up, she flicks it open. The dim lighting of the room catches on the edge of the it, reflecting in gold. Lionel always keeps his razors sharp.
Her eyes turn to her arm. Lifting it towards her body, she turns her hand over so that she looks at her palm and wrist. As her eyes drift, so do her thoughts. Phoebe was gone, and she had taken Monty with her. Her chest aches and her eyes fill with tears as memories flood her mind.
That awful fight with Phoebe. Accusations flying, Phoebe stone faced while Sibella fought back sobs. Monty, left to pick a side in a fight he didn't witness, though his choice is made for him by the laws of marriage. That lovely afternoon only days before, when everything had seemed fine. Sibella wonders what could have happened in just forty eight hours to make Phoebe turn on her.
Oh, my darling Phoebe, she thinks as her tears fall into the bath water. There are so many things they will never do together, places they will never go. No more kisses, no more nights snuggled in bed together. No more "I love you"s, no more "dearest"s. No more corgis, no more books. No more blue.
Sibella begins to sob. I can't do this, she thinks. I don't want to do this. Not without them. I have nothing left. Nothing to hold on to. No reason to continue.
She doesn't know what to do. All meaning has gone from her life. She has lost not one love but two. And she would rather die than live the rest of her life without them. She holds the razor to her wrist, her hands shaking.
She thinks about being stuck with Lionel forever and cries even harder. Monty and Phoebe were her everything, the light in her life. Without them all she has left is her idiot husband and the never ending social events. She thinks of the note she left on her bed, explaining everything so whoever found her would know why.
Focusing on a memory of Monty and Phoebe both hugging her at the same time, she presses the razor's edge into her skin.