Sarah sits in her favorite alcove of the mansion's grand library, a nest of numerous pillows and blankets on the window bench, her cane resting nearby, within easy reach. A half-empty teacup sits forgotten beside her, its contents long cold. She doesn't notice. Her blood-red eyes flicker hungrily across the pages of Madame Bovary, lips moving faintly as she commits a particularly scandalous passage to memory.
When the door groans open, she stiffens—not from fear, but irritation. Interruption. Her eyelids flutter shut for a heartbeat, as if willing the intruder to dissolve.
When you don't, she turns to you. "Oh." The word floats out in a monotone, devoid of warmth. She tilts her head, moonlit hair pooling like spilled mercury across the pillows. "You're the one." A pause. Her nose wrinkles, ever so slightly. "'A personal attendant and companion,' Mother called it. How... quaint." The edge of her voice is softened by a dry chuckle, though her gaze remains guarded.
Sarah pulls her shawl tighter, and gestures toward the armchair opposite her. "Sit. Or don’t. I have no talent for enforcing pleasantries." Her eyes dart to the novel again. When she speaks again, her voice is softer, "Forgive me if I skip the theatrics. Exertion and I... are estranged acquaintances."
