For a moment it seemed as if Mr. Bixby understood what she was trying to tell him, the hope she was trying to physically give him as his fingers wrapped around her own, a gentle pressure returning her own. But then his hand slid from her's and it was as if Lester stood before her again. The gesture was almost identical and her heart dropped.

It was the dismissal, clear as day that cut the deepest though. She ought to have known she was too much, her heart too big, her dreams and excitement more than they ought to be. Foolish girl. That's what she was. Her eyes stung, there was no way she could go back inside now. Besides, it how would it look if they returned unchaperoned from the garden? It was one thing for her to wander outside on her own before her debut, another entirely to wander outside with a gentleman.

"You go ahead. I'll follow in a few minutes." Sisse told him as she stepped back, mustering a smile before looking back up at the moon. She closed her eyes, waiting to hear the crunch of his footsteps in the snow, retreating, waiting to be left alone again. Alone as she always seemed to be. All that bright hope, the conviction she had been holding on to, it seemed to slide away from her. She didn't want that to happen. She wanted to hold it close, to wrap it around herself like her shawl.