Lechance

The ceremony had been simple, quiet, and Jonathan couldn't stop smiling. Couldn't stop looking startled, but couldn't stop smiling. He rubbed, gently, over the band around Effie's wrist. "It suits you, I think."

Over a week since she'd heard the sound, and Effie still wasn't sleeping soundly. Oh, twas improving, that was for sure, but with her wedding approaching, her mind was full, and her concentration poor. And she was not wishing to be married looking like a ghost.

It was time to do something about it.

Tucking a shawl around her shoulders against the light breeze that autumn had introduced to Lechance, and requesting the accompaniment of one of the hotel's chaperones, Effie made her way to the apothecary's shop. A bell chimed as she pushed the door open, moving into the quiet, orderly interior, and she stepped up to the counter, looking for the proprietor. "Good morning?"

Sunday morning.

It had once been a time that Paul would never have thought twice about. Sunday morning was to rouse the children, bathe them, dress them, and make certain that everyone had broken their fast before walking to church.

He no longer attended church, and the children were...gone. His Sunday morning was free and empty.

To put the time to profitable use, he intended to explore. His route took him through the center of the town, near to the cathedral, but not into the grounds. It did mean that he encountered the sudden flow of people leaving after the service, and after a few minutes of slightly awkward moving to one side, and then the other, and then back again, stepped back to the roadside of the sidewalk to allow the stranger to pass, raising his hat politely. "My apologies."