In the end, the couple agreed to locking eyes together as he helped her change into the nightgown.
They did not break contact, even when lying next to each other on the bed, just facing one another in silence until Arabella drifted into a deep sleep that her body very much needed.
For the first time in a week, a sweet beam of warm light flooded through the window to tickle her skin. For the first time in more than seven days, she was allowed a gentle awakening instead of the beating, dragging and yelling that would have her open her eyes in a dark and cold room.
The tame scent of wood mingled with that of the spring flowers ascending from the gardens kept her in bed a while longer, cozying up around those soft sheets she had missed so much.
Well, that was until a gentle knock called upon her attention.
By then, Silas had long since left the room, null doubt in order to tend to all of the business that had piled up in his absence.
