For several nights, Lotty's cheerful company had kept Joshua awake until late. Yet even after she fell asleep peacefully, sleep refused to come to him.
Lying beside her in the darkness, Joshua felt an unfamiliar restlessness.
Charlotte's departure had brought an odd calm to the mansion. No more arguments echoed through the halls.
Yet the quiet left Joshua with an emptiness he could not ignore.
Careful not to wake Lotty, he rose and went to the study.
The wolf-hair brush felt familiar in his hand, but the inkstone lay dry, holding only faint traces of old ink.
Without thinking, he called out for Charlotte to grind the ink.
The habit was so ingrained that for a moment he forgot she was gone.
Realizing his mistake, he fell silent.
The emptiness of the room reminded him she had left q
