Year of Our Lord 1857,
I have received a new client, a referral from a previously satisfied customer. One “Adela Caroline Harriett.” A fine name, a fine family. She was provided to me by her father, who has been grooming her to be a fitting bride to the recently widowed Lord Protector of Ireland, Archibold William Montgomerie.
She was skeptical when I first met her. They always are at the start of our sessions, but equally so do they always loosen up. She had fair skin, brown hair, hazel eyes, typical of aristocratic birth. Her clothes were not so fine nor impractical as can be seen in those who are doing well, but they should be suitable enough for a widower, especially one as unhappy as William.
So the question came to mind then, naggingly, as she sat upon my couch,
“What do you believe to be the problem then?”
“Whatever do you mean?” She said pointedly, clearly not here of her own volition.
I did not reply. I let the silence grow, looking down at my watch in my palm.
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