p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.229999542236328px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; caret-color: #2a2a2a; color: #2a2a2a;"Exhausted to the bone, Anne hadn't been able to catch a wink of sleep during the journey back to Shibden. In fact, she'd driven halfway home herself, when the driver of the carriage complained of tiredness. Anne didn't waste another moment. She wouldn't, she couldn't. The thought of booking them into a hotel, even for just the night, had her anxieties skyrocket as her Aunt and Miss Walker flittered into her mind's eye. A painful reminder of why she was having to return to Halifax in the first place./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.229999542236328px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; caret-color: #2a2a2a; color: #2a2a2a;"After ordering her driver to catch up on some sleep inside the carriage, Anne had hoisted herself up onto the bench and grabbed hold of the reigns. The sun had almost set by that point and the moon had been glowing in the nights sky. Eugenie had been on the verge of either passing out from exhaustion, or throwing up, Miss Lister wasn't sure and she honestly didn't care much either. Thomas had been his usual eager self, reminding Anne that of a new puppy, full of energy and eager to please. It annoyed her to no end./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.229999542236328px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; caret-color: #2a2a2a; color: #2a2a2a;"Sparing a brief thought for the horses, Anne deemed them spritely enough to keep going and without a warning, the sound of a whip cracking echoed in the air. A small smirk played on her lips too when she'd heard Eugenie's groan of discomfort and ignored Thomas' onslaught questions about her world travels. The only thing she'd focused on, that kept her awake until she switched with her driver again, was that of Miss Walker… and her Aunt, of course./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.229999542236328px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; caret-color: #2a2a2a; color: #2a2a2a;" /p
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p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.229999542236328px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; caret-color: #2a2a2a; color: #2a2a2a;" /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.229999542236328px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; caret-color: #2a2a2a; color: #2a2a2a;"The carriage pulled up outside of Shibden and Anne could hear her sister's fretting before she'd even open the bloody door. Marian's high-pitched voice caused the relatively minute headache she'd accumulated since they'd left the docks in Dover, to grow into an excruciating pounding in her head./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.229999542236328px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; caret-color: #2a2a2a; color: #2a2a2a;"Anne winced as she exited the carriage, landing on the ground with a thud. She hunched over, resting her hands on her knees briefly and exhaled a long sigh as she took in the sensation of the stable ground beneath her boots./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.229999542236328px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; caret-color: #2a2a2a; color: #2a2a2a;""Anne." the familiar voice of her sister barely registered through the pulsing in her /Anne glanced up and offered a weak smile before straightening and patting Marian on the /"Right, where is she?" Anne asked, tone strictly business as she addressed Marian on the whereabouts of their /"About that…" Marian pulled a face, one that made Anne inch the bridge of her /"You know what? I don't have time for this." Anne strode into the house ahead of her sister, ignoring Marian's attempts at an explanation./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.229999542236328px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; caret-color: #2a2a2a; color: #2a2a2a;"Upon walking past the kitchen, Anne nodded her greeted to Mrs. /"Aunt Anne?" she asked her former maid, she'd known the woman long enough that she hand a short-hand with Mrs. Cordingley. Not always needing to using full sentences, she appreciated that the woman could - seemingly - read her /"Upstairs, Ma'am." Mrs. Cordingley gestured upwards, offering an apologetic grimace and shrug when Marian glowered at /"Anne, just wait a minute…" Marian huffed as she caught up to her sister on the staircase./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.229999542236328px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; caret-color: #2a2a2a; color: #2a2a2a;"Anne turned abruptly causing Marian to bump into her and almost fall backward. If it weren't for Anne reaching out and grabbing her arm to hold her steady, she'd have fallen all the way /"Look, Marian… in your letter, you used the word 'span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: oblique; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"urgent'/span. So forgive me if I'm trying to figure out what exactly is going on here, as I'm now under the impression that there is in fact strongnothing/strong span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: oblique; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"urgent/span needing my attention." Anne's gaze narrowed ever-so-slightly as she lost all /"Would you just let me explain?" Marian asked, not phased in the slightest by her sister's foul /"No." Anne turned suddenly and carried on up the stairs towards her Aunt's /Marian rolled her eyes and hurried after her, shaking her head as she went./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.229999542236328px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; caret-color: #2a2a2a; color: #2a2a2a;"Knocking twice and hearing a "Come in." Anne entered her Aunt's room and immediately rushed to her /Greeting her Aunt with a kiss on the back of her hand, Anne clutched it carefully between both of /"How are you?" she asked, silently assessing her Aunt's appearance. Nothing seemed to be out of the /"I'm—" Aunt Anne was cut off by Marian barging into the /"Would you just let me explain?" Marian repeatedly, /Anne's gaze stayed firmly on that of her /"Let her explain." her aunt whispered softly, caressing Anne's hand gently. Attempting to soothe the storm in her niece' /Anne took a deep breath in before glancing over at Marian, she checked her pocket-watch, taking note of the time before meeting Marian's stare and giving her a short nod to indicate she should start /"I knew that the only way to get you to return from your travels, would be if anything had happened to Aunt." Marian gestured to their aunt who sat silently watching Anne's reaction like a hawk./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.229999542236328px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; caret-color: #2a2a2a; color: #2a2a2a;"At the twitch of her niece' eye, Aunt Anne stepped in to take over explaining the situation. She could feel the agitation building within Anne and wanted to prevent an outburst at all /"We received a letter." she said lowly, patting Anne's hand in order to get her /"Hmm." was all the response she received from her restless-looking /"It was from Miss Walker's sister in Scotland." she spoke carefully, as if not wanting to startle Anne./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.229999542236328px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; caret-color: #2a2a2a; color: #2a2a2a;"The mere mention of Miss Walker caused Anne's headache to silence and her breath /"Now, you made me promise to inform you during your travels of any news about Miss Walker." Aunt Anne reminded her niece, to which Anne herself nodded quickly, unable to utter a word as her panic /"But, I don't think this could've been written in a letter." her aunt smiled apologetically, reaching up with her free hand to brush a flyaway hair behind Anne's ear./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.229999542236328px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; caret-color: #2a2a2a; color: #2a2a2a;"Anne began fidgeting and Marian could almost hear the cogs in her sister's head working over-time. br /"There's been an accident, Anne. Nothing too drastic, but enough so if Miss Walker's sister thought it wise to ask for your help." Marian spoke softly, taking a seat on the other side of their aunt's bedside./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.229999542236328px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; caret-color: #2a2a2a; color: #2a2a2a;"Anne's stare flickered between her aunt and sister, she blinked furiously before dropping her gaze to her lap. Aunt Anne's grip on her hand tightened slightly, a silent reminder of her support./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.229999542236328px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; caret-color: #2a2a2a; color: #2a2a2a;"Marian didn't know how much time had passed when she finally heard her sister speak /Anne cleared her throat and brought her gaze from her lap, locking eyes with Marian once /"Thank you." her voice broke as a traitorous tear slid down her /Marian nodded and reached across to squeeze her sister's forearm, much like their Aunt, she also supported Anne despite all the squabbles and skirmishes./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.229999542236328px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; caret-color: #2a2a2a; color: #2a2a2a;"Clearing her throat once more and wiping the tear with her sleeve, Anne took a deep breath and /"Firstly, when did you receive the letter and can I see it?" Anne began giving orders, an amused smirk appearing on Marian's face as her sister kicked into business gear /"The evening before last and I've already left it in your study. I thought you'd want to read it before departing for Scotland." Marian replied /"You will stay for lunch though, won't you?" Aunt Anne asked, drawing Anne's attention to her /"Aunt, you know I don't eat lunch." Anne scrubbed a hand over her face /"I do but you look like you haven't eaten in days, Dear." Aunt Anne caressed her cheek./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.229999542236328px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; caret-color: #2a2a2a; color: #2a2a2a;"Anne's stomach chose that exact moment to gurgle loudly, causing Marian to laugh and Aunt Anne to raise a brow /"Would you please? You know I'd only worry once you set off again." her aunt guilted her into /"Lunch is ready." Mrs. Cordingley's voice could be heard bellowing up the /Aunt Anne winked at Marian and shuffled out of bed with her youngest niece' help. Marian handed her Aunt off to the servant waiting outside the bedroom door. Glancing over her shoulder, she noticed Anne hadn't moved at all./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.229999542236328px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; caret-color: #2a2a2a; color: #2a2a2a;""If I leave within the next quarter of an hour, I could be there by noon tomorrow." Anne muttered, mostly to herself as she pocketed her watch /Marian popped up beside her then, startling her just a /"I already told Thomas to keep your luggage where it is and ordered him to swap the horses over. Poor creatures must be exhausted." Marian pouted at the thought of the horses having had such a long journey already, only to set off again after only a small /Anne had zoned out mostly by this point and just nodded along with her./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.229999542236328px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; caret-color: #2a2a2a; color: #2a2a2a;""Right, well it seems I'm off to Scotland." Anne stated, her hands fidgeting in front of /"Stop panicking." Marian scolded gently, "And bring Miss Walker back with you." she added /Anne's eyes widened at her sister's bold statement, but before she could utter the question on her lips, Marian answered /"You're much more pleasant to be around after you've spent some time in the company of Miss Walker. There's no need for her to be so far away up in Scotland, when we have plenty room here… and I hardly think she'd want to return to that big house of hers alone either." Marian explained, offering a kind smile./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.229999542236328px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; caret-color: #2a2a2a; color: #2a2a2a;"Sweet moments between Anne and Marian happened so few and far between that it always left one or the other speechless when one of these moments came about./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.229999542236328px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; caret-color: #2a2a2a; color: #2a2a2a;"Anne couldn't find the words to express her gratitude to Marian, without coming across as a sap. Which she was not. So instead she gave Marian a stiff embrace, short-lived though as a new found excitement entered Anne's bones as she got up and left the room. Marian heading downstairs for lunch and Anne toward her study to retrieve the letter, before joining her family downstairs at the table./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.229999542236328px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; caret-color: #2a2a2a; color: #2a2a2a;"After ordering her driver to catch up on some sleep inside the carriage, Anne had hoisted herself up onto the bench and grabbed hold of the reigns. The sun had almost set by that point and the moon had been glowing in the nights sky. Eugenie had been on the verge of either passing out from exhaustion, or throwing up, Miss Lister wasn't sure and she honestly didn't care much either. Thomas had been his usual eager self, reminding Anne that of a new puppy, full of energy and eager to please. It annoyed her to no end./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.229999542236328px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; caret-color: #2a2a2a; color: #2a2a2a;"Sparing a brief thought for the horses, Anne deemed them spritely enough to keep going and without a warning, the sound of a whip cracking echoed in the air. A small smirk played on her lips too when she'd heard Eugenie's groan of discomfort and ignored Thomas' onslaught questions about her world travels. The only thing she'd focused on, that kept her awake until she switched with her driver again, was that of Miss Walker… and her Aunt, of course./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.229999542236328px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; caret-color: #2a2a2a; color: #2a2a2a;" /p
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p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.229999542236328px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; caret-color: #2a2a2a; color: #2a2a2a;" /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.229999542236328px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; caret-color: #2a2a2a; color: #2a2a2a;"The carriage pulled up outside of Shibden and Anne could hear her sister's fretting before she'd even open the bloody door. Marian's high-pitched voice caused the relatively minute headache she'd accumulated since they'd left the docks in Dover, to grow into an excruciating pounding in her head./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.229999542236328px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; caret-color: #2a2a2a; color: #2a2a2a;"Anne winced as she exited the carriage, landing on the ground with a thud. She hunched over, resting her hands on her knees briefly and exhaled a long sigh as she took in the sensation of the stable ground beneath her boots./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.229999542236328px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; caret-color: #2a2a2a; color: #2a2a2a;""Anne." the familiar voice of her sister barely registered through the pulsing in her /Anne glanced up and offered a weak smile before straightening and patting Marian on the /"Right, where is she?" Anne asked, tone strictly business as she addressed Marian on the whereabouts of their /"About that…" Marian pulled a face, one that made Anne inch the bridge of her /"You know what? I don't have time for this." Anne strode into the house ahead of her sister, ignoring Marian's attempts at an explanation./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.229999542236328px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; caret-color: #2a2a2a; color: #2a2a2a;"Upon walking past the kitchen, Anne nodded her greeted to Mrs. /"Aunt Anne?" she asked her former maid, she'd known the woman long enough that she hand a short-hand with Mrs. Cordingley. Not always needing to using full sentences, she appreciated that the woman could - seemingly - read her /"Upstairs, Ma'am." Mrs. Cordingley gestured upwards, offering an apologetic grimace and shrug when Marian glowered at /"Anne, just wait a minute…" Marian huffed as she caught up to her sister on the staircase./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.229999542236328px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; caret-color: #2a2a2a; color: #2a2a2a;"Anne turned abruptly causing Marian to bump into her and almost fall backward. If it weren't for Anne reaching out and grabbing her arm to hold her steady, she'd have fallen all the way /"Look, Marian… in your letter, you used the word 'span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: oblique; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"urgent'/span. So forgive me if I'm trying to figure out what exactly is going on here, as I'm now under the impression that there is in fact strongnothing/strong span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: oblique; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"urgent/span needing my attention." Anne's gaze narrowed ever-so-slightly as she lost all /"Would you just let me explain?" Marian asked, not phased in the slightest by her sister's foul /"No." Anne turned suddenly and carried on up the stairs towards her Aunt's /Marian rolled her eyes and hurried after her, shaking her head as she went./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.229999542236328px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; caret-color: #2a2a2a; color: #2a2a2a;"Knocking twice and hearing a "Come in." Anne entered her Aunt's room and immediately rushed to her /Greeting her Aunt with a kiss on the back of her hand, Anne clutched it carefully between both of /"How are you?" she asked, silently assessing her Aunt's appearance. Nothing seemed to be out of the /"I'm—" Aunt Anne was cut off by Marian barging into the /"Would you just let me explain?" Marian repeatedly, /Anne's gaze stayed firmly on that of her /"Let her explain." her aunt whispered softly, caressing Anne's hand gently. Attempting to soothe the storm in her niece' /Anne took a deep breath in before glancing over at Marian, she checked her pocket-watch, taking note of the time before meeting Marian's stare and giving her a short nod to indicate she should start /"I knew that the only way to get you to return from your travels, would be if anything had happened to Aunt." Marian gestured to their aunt who sat silently watching Anne's reaction like a hawk./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.229999542236328px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; caret-color: #2a2a2a; color: #2a2a2a;"At the twitch of her niece' eye, Aunt Anne stepped in to take over explaining the situation. She could feel the agitation building within Anne and wanted to prevent an outburst at all /"We received a letter." she said lowly, patting Anne's hand in order to get her /"Hmm." was all the response she received from her restless-looking /"It was from Miss Walker's sister in Scotland." she spoke carefully, as if not wanting to startle Anne./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.229999542236328px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; caret-color: #2a2a2a; color: #2a2a2a;"The mere mention of Miss Walker caused Anne's headache to silence and her breath /"Now, you made me promise to inform you during your travels of any news about Miss Walker." Aunt Anne reminded her niece, to which Anne herself nodded quickly, unable to utter a word as her panic /"But, I don't think this could've been written in a letter." her aunt smiled apologetically, reaching up with her free hand to brush a flyaway hair behind Anne's ear./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.229999542236328px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; caret-color: #2a2a2a; color: #2a2a2a;"Anne began fidgeting and Marian could almost hear the cogs in her sister's head working over-time. br /"There's been an accident, Anne. Nothing too drastic, but enough so if Miss Walker's sister thought it wise to ask for your help." Marian spoke softly, taking a seat on the other side of their aunt's bedside./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.229999542236328px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; caret-color: #2a2a2a; color: #2a2a2a;"Anne's stare flickered between her aunt and sister, she blinked furiously before dropping her gaze to her lap. Aunt Anne's grip on her hand tightened slightly, a silent reminder of her support./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.229999542236328px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; caret-color: #2a2a2a; color: #2a2a2a;"Marian didn't know how much time had passed when she finally heard her sister speak /Anne cleared her throat and brought her gaze from her lap, locking eyes with Marian once /"Thank you." her voice broke as a traitorous tear slid down her /Marian nodded and reached across to squeeze her sister's forearm, much like their Aunt, she also supported Anne despite all the squabbles and skirmishes./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.229999542236328px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; caret-color: #2a2a2a; color: #2a2a2a;"Clearing her throat once more and wiping the tear with her sleeve, Anne took a deep breath and /"Firstly, when did you receive the letter and can I see it?" Anne began giving orders, an amused smirk appearing on Marian's face as her sister kicked into business gear /"The evening before last and I've already left it in your study. I thought you'd want to read it before departing for Scotland." Marian replied /"You will stay for lunch though, won't you?" Aunt Anne asked, drawing Anne's attention to her /"Aunt, you know I don't eat lunch." Anne scrubbed a hand over her face /"I do but you look like you haven't eaten in days, Dear." Aunt Anne caressed her cheek./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.229999542236328px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; caret-color: #2a2a2a; color: #2a2a2a;"Anne's stomach chose that exact moment to gurgle loudly, causing Marian to laugh and Aunt Anne to raise a brow /"Would you please? You know I'd only worry once you set off again." her aunt guilted her into /"Lunch is ready." Mrs. Cordingley's voice could be heard bellowing up the /Aunt Anne winked at Marian and shuffled out of bed with her youngest niece' help. Marian handed her Aunt off to the servant waiting outside the bedroom door. Glancing over her shoulder, she noticed Anne hadn't moved at all./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.229999542236328px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; caret-color: #2a2a2a; color: #2a2a2a;""If I leave within the next quarter of an hour, I could be there by noon tomorrow." Anne muttered, mostly to herself as she pocketed her watch /Marian popped up beside her then, startling her just a /"I already told Thomas to keep your luggage where it is and ordered him to swap the horses over. Poor creatures must be exhausted." Marian pouted at the thought of the horses having had such a long journey already, only to set off again after only a small /Anne had zoned out mostly by this point and just nodded along with her./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.229999542236328px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; caret-color: #2a2a2a; color: #2a2a2a;""Right, well it seems I'm off to Scotland." Anne stated, her hands fidgeting in front of /"Stop panicking." Marian scolded gently, "And bring Miss Walker back with you." she added /Anne's eyes widened at her sister's bold statement, but before she could utter the question on her lips, Marian answered /"You're much more pleasant to be around after you've spent some time in the company of Miss Walker. There's no need for her to be so far away up in Scotland, when we have plenty room here… and I hardly think she'd want to return to that big house of hers alone either." Marian explained, offering a kind smile./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.229999542236328px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; caret-color: #2a2a2a; color: #2a2a2a;"Sweet moments between Anne and Marian happened so few and far between that it always left one or the other speechless when one of these moments came about./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.229999542236328px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; caret-color: #2a2a2a; color: #2a2a2a;"Anne couldn't find the words to express her gratitude to Marian, without coming across as a sap. Which she was not. So instead she gave Marian a stiff embrace, short-lived though as a new found excitement entered Anne's bones as she got up and left the room. Marian heading downstairs for lunch and Anne toward her study to retrieve the letter, before joining her family downstairs at the table./p