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anything, and actually have more than required.
    Of course this didn’t line up with her
vocation. She could not indulge in such a lifestyle, nor could she
simply abandon her calling and the citizens of Westerly. They
needed her. No, she decided, she was called to be as she was and so
she would stay.
    She awakened that morning to a tapping on the
door. The maiden, Tilly, who’d been assigned to assist during her
stay entered with a tray and offered her breakfast.
    “Good morning, milady,” she kindly greeted.
Rachel sat up stretching. She thought of how well she’d slept, also
considered the title she’d by now been referred to as oodles of
times—milady. How could one adapt?
    Tilly came forward and positioned the tray
across her legs then went about straightening the room although
hardly in need of it.
    “Tomorrow morning you will dine with Lord
Trent,” she announced with her usual humble, trained voice. “This
morning he is away tending to a matter outside the city.”
    Rachel deliberated as she chewed a bite of
pastry. What would she do with herself? Being idle was not
something she was accustomed to. Perhaps she would revisit the
chapel and say her prayers before afternoon.
    She watched Tilly, who’d gone about
straightening the room. Maybe she would have a clue. What exactly
would a guest of such a place do to occupy their time?
    “What shall I do until he returns?” She found
herself asking.
    “Tis a beautiful morning, milady,” Tilly
said, stopping what she’d been doing for a time. “Perhaps a stroll
in the gardens. They are beautiful this time of year. Lord Trent
should return around the start of noon. You’ll sit with him at his
table. He will be having guests—the duke of Tarot and the
duchess.”
    “Duke?” she warily repeated, chewing slowly.
“Duchess?” She felt queasy just thinking about taking part in
engaging such a couple.
    “Do not worry, milady,” Tilly soothed. “Tis
no trying matter. The duke and duchess are not difficult to
entertain. You shall see.”
    She thought about this, even a bit later as
she did as suggested, taking a stroll about the gardens which were
absolutely gorgeous and serene…beautiful, just as Tilly had
insisted. Yes, she’d escaped the chamber after choosing something
to wear from a generous assortment arranged specifically for her;
everything from gowns and scarves, corsets, skirts and bustles,
robes and stockings; Far too many things for a mere two-day visit.
Tilly assisted with her bath and her attire, and insisted upon
brushing her hair which she praised in the process saying how “very
beautiful” it was. As the maidens the morning before she also
insisted it be kept down, and pampered it with dabs of fragrant
lotions. It fell down her back in natural wavy locks, and she had
to admit even to herself that it was quite stunning.
    There was an assortment of sandals to choose
from, also. Now, these she was particularly grateful for today
seeing as to how she’d accidentally stubbed her toe on the
nightstand the evening before. No way would she have been able to
comfortably wear her little black boots.
    Three guards were assigned to her and
travelled from a distance while she strolled along a walkway
admiring the gardens. There were statues and fountains and every
flower imaginable. It was an admirable, colorful scene which the
sparrows seemed to enjoy equally as well.
    The walkway was paved with brick, in some
places stone, and others pebbles that had been flatly embedded into
the ground. It was a generous walk, but the scenery was never the
same. The trail led all the way from the left of the palace to the
right, and she could hear the faint sound of the ocean’s waves from
beyond the stone wall that encircled the grounds. She stopped here
and there, taking a flower by its stem, touching the blooms of
roses and petunias to her nose, inhaling their sweet, pleasant
scent.
    Midway the passage she came across a
strawberry patch and could not resist