“We have an unexpected guest,” Etan informed his parents, his tone communicating his continued disapproval.

Raised to be a gentleman, he still lifted up a hand to help me out of the carriage. Raised to be a lady, I took it.

“Lady Hollis?” Lord Northcott asked, surprised.

“Oh, Lady Hollis! You poor thing!” Lady Northcott rushed to embrace me. “I can’t believe you came all this way. Did you have nowhere else to go?”

“She’s the mistress of her own estate now,” Etan shared. “She has a very comfortable manor; I’ve seen it myself.”

“But it’s lacking a family,” I added quietly. “I had to be with my family.”

“How brave,” Lady Northcott commented, running her hand down my cheek. “Of course you are always welcome at Pearfield. Now, what you need is some rest. You are most welcome—and safe—here.”

Etan rolled his eyes, spilling the truth with a single motion: we weren’t really safe anywhere.

Lord Northcott walked over and took Scarlet’s hand. “We’ve prepared the room overlooking the forest for you. And Lady Hollis, you—”

“Just Hollis. Please.”

He smiled. “Certainly. We’ll have fresh linens brought into the room right across the hall. Such a wonderful surprise.”

Etan huffed.

His mother elbowed him.

I just let it all go.

“Let’s get you settled in,” Lady Northcott insisted. “I’m sure it’s been quite the journey.”

We were led upstairs to a branch of the house with four rooms, two on either side of the hallway. Mother was taken to another wing, presumably to have some peace, while Scarlet and I were left with Etan, whose renewed frustration was instantly clearer. Not only was I staying under his roof, I was in the room beside his. He glared at me before walking into it and shutting his door with so much force I felt it in my bones.

My room overlooked the front of the estate, showing the sweeping plains that welcomed guests to the Northcotts’ home. There was no denying it made an impressive statement. If I wasn’t so obviously out of place, it could almost remind me of home.

I peeked back into Scarlet’s room and saw that she had gotten a view of the back stretch of the property. Most interesting to me was the line of dense trees to the one side that had an unmistakable gap where a well-worn path carved its way to the back of the house from the forest.

I left the door to my room open so I could listen to Scarlet across the hall. Her door was open as well, and I could hear her putting things away and moving furniture.

Scarlet had her own sounds. I knew her footsteps and breaths as I knew no one else’s. Perhaps I could pick Delia Grace’s determined march out of a crowd of others, but it was nothing like how I knew Scarlet now. Maybe it was a few weeks of sharing a bed, but she was a kind of home for me, a safe place. If I hadn’t thought that she needed some space for herself right now, I’d have asked to stay with her.