Welcome to Gaia! ::

Anna-Maria silently laughed off Sophia's disregard for her family history. But now she couldn't resist Sophia so close to tears; "Oh, my dear! Please don't cry!" Anna spoke quickly without thinking, "Why don't you come home with me tonight? I'll have a carriage take you home in the morning." She didn't really want to leave Sophia just yet. And she did not like the idea of leaving Sophia alone any place.

"I suppose we should say our adeau's. Butler, please bring us the Lord and Lady of the house." The butler left quickly and returned with a stern looking Lord Danviere. Lady Danviere followed a little ways back. More cautiously and hiding her emotions a lot less easily. "My Lord and Lady, Miss Sophia and I will be leaving now. Thank you graciously for the invitation and congratulations on the engagement."
"Thank you Lady Strong. Have a safe travel home." Lord Danviere did his best to be polite. Anna bowed and so did Lord Danviere. They left eachother's company both rather relieved of being out of eachother's company.

"We shall!" Anna replied; and they headed outside to Anna's carriage. The coachmen opened the door and Anna held out her hand helping Sophia into the carriage. She then got in behind her and the carriage began to move. "The ride may be a little long. My home is a little ways out of town." Anna looked out from behind the draped curtain windows and saw it was quite dark. She turned back to Sophia "So Miss Sophia, tell me about yourself."

Anna listened intently. Trying hard to make out Sophia's face but it was far too dark to see more than just her outline. Usually Anna didn't care to hear a person's history unless she could later use it against them. But she hung on Sophia's every word. "Wow." Anna said. "France, eh? I havn't been outside of Britain since I was about four. My father had business in Germany. We had a wonderful time. Then we came home..." Anna frowned. "But I bore you, I'm sure! One such as you who has lived such a colourful life!" It started to rain outside and she noticed Sophia shiver ever so slightly. "Here, Dear. Take my cloak." Anna took off her outside cloak and wrapped it snugly around Sophia.

Anna could not resist Sophia's cuddling. She was so cute, small and warm. Anna's heart started pounding but she didn't know why. "My family...?" Anna asked surprised. She wasn't used to talking about her family history. "Well my childhood was happy. We often traveled to Germany with my father. I had many friends in both Germany and England. One year, we came home from Germany and found our home in ruins. It'd been raided while we were away. Our servants were either dead or they'd fled. After that, my father just couldn't keep us afloat. He'd promised a lot of important people a lot of money that he no longer had. We became social outcasts. Even my friends weren't allowed to play with me anymore..." Anna paused to get a hold of her emotions. Subconsciously, Anna started stroking Sophia's soft hair to calm herself. She sat silently for a moment listening to Sophia's breath.

Anna's heart beat faster as Sophia touched her face. "Thank you." Anna whispered to Sophia. For some reason, she'd become quite excited. More excited than she'd ever been over seeing anyone. To contain herself, she poked a finger between the drawn curtains and looked out the window. The outer coach lanterns revealed fewer and fewer houses. The ground got rough and the ride got more bumpy. Anna knew they were nearing home, a little ways into the country.

At this point, Anna had all but fallen asleep. She woke up to Sophia sitting on her lap, which caused her to blush a little, which alarmed her, which made her glad it was dark out. The door burst open and the carriagemen helped the two women out of the carriage. They ran for the door, which was quite large, though nothing could be distinguished in the dark except for it's sheer size. They reached the porch and were spared from the rain. As they reached the doors, they swung open revealing a small young woman in a maid's outfit. "Goodevening my lady! I hope you would make it home before the rain started! I'll prepare a warm bath for you!"
"Make that two warm baths, Shirley." Anna told the girl. "This is Sophia. She'll be spending the night with us tonight." Anna revealed Sophia, who'd been hiding behind her, to the maid.
"Oh sorry Miss! I hadn't seen you there! Welcome to the Strong residence! May I offer you a guest room? Or will you be spending the night with the Lady?" The maid asked with a sly look on her face.
"Now Shirley! She's a nobleman's daughter! She's not one of those girls!" Anna scolded her.