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Grace sat in her black mourning dress and waited, her hands composedly resting in her lap. From her bedroom she could hear every noise in the house. She heard the brisk steps of her personal maid rushing up the stairs to take advantage of the extra time off she had just been awarded. A few minutes later she heard the elderly governess come upstairs for her last check of the house, the bunch of keys tied to her belt jangling at every step. Then she retired to her quarters upstairs, and the house fell silent. Grace sighed at the view of the clock; there was nothing else she could do to occupy her time other than wait, so she adjusted her position in her chair to be more comfortable.
She was about to create a scandal; she thought it would be a far better choice to go to sleep and forget about it all but that was impossible. Her heart cringed at the thought of suffocating her youth into a black dress. Henry had lived his life for sure, given the rumors she had heard, and she was still waiting to live hers.
'I did not think it would be like this,' she murmured to herself in an attempt to justify what she was about to do. Mourning customs required her to exclude herself from society for one year following the death of her husband, and spend another year with only limited contact. She would not receive visits except from close relatives, and her social events would be limited to church services.
Had it not been for church, she would have never seen David again. On Sunday her eyes scanned the congregation, but rather than return diligently to the prayer book, they stopped on someone's shoulders, someone on the other side of the aisle. Holding her breath, she tried to get a better look, but from her position she could not really say for sure who the man was.
'David, if only it had been him for real...' the thought alone had been enough to increase her heartbeat, while her nipples hardened under her corset. She blushed violently as she realized the effect simply thinking of David still had on her.
'I must offer you my deepest condolences for your loss, Madam.' It was David's voice outside the church calling her. She looked at him and saw no difference in his appearance from when he had left, but she was too surprised to talk.
'I did not know...' she hinted in a low voice.
'I returned last week, my cousin informed me about Henry.'
Grace nodded, reminding herself to be careful with her words in public. Her eyes followed the line of his chin, wishing she could have another kiss like the last they had shared that night.
'It wasn't a happy marriage, was it?'
She was embarrassed to admit it: 'Uneventful,' she finally allowed, 'but it couldn't have been different, he was away so often.'
David was a merchant without a title; he had later bought one, but society still did not recognize that as important as being born with a title.
'I could make you happy.' He whispered in her ear as he walked away, just in time before people spotted them and started to talk.