Five days of stewing had not actually helped her solve this, and her conversation about same-sex attraction with Effie had not been particularly enlightening, either. She'd liked the flowers, but they made her feel conflicted, because this was supposed to be casual. If it was casual, couldn't he just let her go as he pleased, and she could do the same? (Although it was not as if she ever had any alternate plans.)

But she'd agreed to plans. She was wearing more than her nightgown, this time — a simple yellow day dress that she mostly just wore around the house, and her hair was up in a simple bun. Both would be easier to get back on if Hudson took her to bed; both were less exposed than she'd been when she wore her nightgown and her hair down.

This was getting risky. Someone was bound to notice sometime. She was sure that Ezra, at least, had noticed the flowers — and maybe someone had noticed the way she'd kept quiet at home, and at the zoo's daytime anniversary celebration. She'd been doing several puzzles, but it hadn't quite helped — she couldn't get the shakes out of her hands, because she was anticipating rejection.

Hanna stepped out of the floo, and looked down at his hands when he didn't immediately embrace her. She looked back at his face. "Of course I came," she said, feeling a bit pathetic — he had to know things weren't working out for her on the marriage mart, didn't he? She swallowed. "I'm glad you wrote."