A flicker of concern crept into her thoughts. Were they going this far just for her? Spending this much simply to make up for the years she had been gone?
Or… was this something ingrained in them? The quiet pride of an aristocratic family, one that, no matter how much it had declined, would never allow itself to appear anything less than its best?
Ashley's thoughts spun in a restless whirlwind, one question chasing another, yet when she glanced around, the words died on her lips. Her brothers all looked exhausted, subtly, but unmistakably so, and she couldn't bring herself to burden them further.
A stray thought surfaced, almost absurd in its timing. 'No matter how starved a camel became, it would still tower over a horse. Perhaps… this was something like that.' Even if their family had declined, perhaps their foundation was still far beyond what she could easily measure.
