"I shall fetch your maid at once, Your Grace." Bella said.
"Before you leave tomorrow morning, come here. I shall have the message prepared."
"Yes, Your Grace." Bella curtsied again.
As she withdrew, she felt Theodora's gaze follow her all the way to the door. So tomorrow would be a long one.
First, she would sit through mass. Then she would wait while the Archbishop attended to every other noble who needed to have a word with him.
There would be advantages, of course. She would see her parents. She had not sat with her mother since the failed royal wedding. There was also her new niece, whom Bella had not yet admired properly.
Still, waiting alone after mass sounded dreadful. It felt rather like punishment. The problem was that Bella had no idea what she was being punished for.
*****
"He is still out there, my lady," Tabitha said.
Livia looked up from her book. "Of course he is." she sighed.
