Constance maintained her easy smile even as her eye twitched ever so slightly at Collin’s rejection, even if it were only a temporary one. The things she saw on the horizon, why, it would make both of them disgustingly wealthy, although she didn’t really need Collin per se, she just needed someone who spoke both languages. Any of the descendants would work, really; Constance’s gaze fell upon the two (Raymond and Juliette, Collin had called them) that had lingered behind as the crowd dispersed. She would just have to suade one of them, and then—

”What are you going to do, Constance?”

Constance flushed. How was it that Luna seemed to have been supplied with some sort of sixth sense that allowed the nurse to find a way to stab her with words like a skilled mugger slipping her blade between a pair of ribs? Constance didn’t hear it as a challenge, but as disbelief. To her, it seemed as if the nurse did not think Constance was capable of anything, anything at all. And how quick she was to turn her back, forcing Constance to swallow a retort that never would’ve been able to form in the first place and making her pretend that she was instead respecting Conway’s wishes by not bickering. Yet, a sharp noise, what could only have been a covered up bark of laughter, exploded into the air like a gunshot the moment Luna made the utterance that she did not want to accidentally offend. Constance placed her hat back on her head, lowering the brim ever so slightly to deny her of any innocence. 

[i]There’s plenty I can do,[/i] thought Constance, half-listening to the conversation between Edward and Collin. Talk of the festivities did little to excite Constance—surely something must’ve been wrong with her, if the prospect of a party didn’t peak her interest—and a dark cloud of disappointment formed over her head as their guide shifted the conversation towards politics. She didn’t know what she had been expecting, but she had been hoping for something a bit more archaic. It would’ve made her knowledge more valuable, and if they were too advance perhaps everything would be nothing but a pipe dream. How surprising, another thing gone wrong; everything had been going wrong since even before she had left the Isles. She had Paxton to blame for that. 

She had herself to blame for that.

"Ah! I had forgotten earlier, but there are Devil Diver descendants within this precinct of Ghal-Priyam with your name. Very busy people, but we might be able to visit them, if you are so inclined."

“Constance?” she said slowly, snapping out of a stupor. She quickly realized her mistake, and tried her best to recover from her blunder. “Sorry, I was distracted by the sight. Absolutely fantastic—there are Holloways?” she asked with a smile that had started as a grimace. She glanced at Edward. How unnaturally bizarre it would be for her to disagree to meet with [i]family[/i]. 

“I’d love to meet them,” she said, clapping her hands together as her smile brightened with such intensity that she was certain it would blind anyone from seeing the terror lurking beneath it.