TWENTY-THREE
Day dawned and Bianca rose with the sun, as usual. Her sisters had returned and they were sound asleep, having left the usual pile of shoes before the door, which she stepped over carefully. She didn't want to trip and wake Vasco.
When she reached the receiving room, she found his bed empty and the outer door ajar. She needn't have bothered being quiet. For a moment, she worried that he might have left, but his belongings still hung from the hooks over his bed. Perhaps he was simply breaking his fast, she decided. Something she should do, too.
Maybe they could speak more over the morning meal. After all, it wasn't like her sisters would be joining them. She would have him all to herself.
She fairly skipped down to the kitchen to order breakfast, before asking about Vasc
