Secrets (5)

With that final brutal pronouncement, she pivoted on her heels and strode away without a single backwards glance, her noble bearing unmarred save for the nearly imperceptible tremor in her clenched hands. The rest of her cohorts exchanged puzzled looks before shrugging in unison and drifting off to tend to less aesthetically displeasing matters.

And there, amid the glittering trappings of opulence and indulgent splendor, Constance remained crumpled on the floor like so much discarded human detritus, alone with the smothering weight of her grief.

For years she had endured Harriet's rejections, their shared bond stretched taut as gossamer by the caprices of fate and human avarice.

Yet somehow, even when convinced her heart could be unmended no further, this latest wound managed to burrow deeper, lacerating her very soul until she wondered if anything salvageable remained.

~~~~~