Accepting the plate, Mabel nodded in complete understanding of what she was agreeing to. Mabel wasn't usually somebody who was very solid in her decisions, liking to keep her options open and flowing easily between ideas and positions on any given thing. It was a quality that others before had accused her of being flaky, and perhaps it was true. But there were a few, very important issues that Mabel kept firmly stubbornly committed to without allowing any wavering at all. This was one of those occasions that called for all or nothing, and it was higher stakes than she played before. This was probably the singular most important choice in her life, but a choice that she made without hesitation while fully aware of the deadly consequences. Because the alternative was never really an option anyway.
What other people thought of her never really mattered, gladly living blindly in regards to what was considered acceptable, and the possibility of other people disapproving of this was just as much a nonissue. Her father certainly wouldn't like it, but they had already come to the conclusion that Alisander had to go- though the when and the where had yet to be discussed. Her mother had all but abandoned her, and the Christmas card that had arrived that morning full of begging for understanding and forgiveness didn't change that. What Bellona thought wouldn't affect Mabel at all. The only person's whose opinion Mabel consistently placed any importance on was the one in front of her.