No Grey [Anthony Bridgerton]

Chapter four-

"Dear," Hyra's mother called with a knock on the study door.

"Just a moment!" She returned as her eyes flitted across the paper with strain. Her mind struggled to keep up with itself as she calculated what she had failed to finish last night before she had fallen asleep at her desk.

"Darling, I really must insist you come out right-" her mother argued as she entered the room. "Dear Lord you look horridness!"

"Yes well that is what happens when one is up all night, I told you I'd be out in a moment did I not?"

"You have a caller."

"In that case, tell him to go away."

"Dear, it's your first caller of the season, you would do well to pay him some attention."

"Would you like to fall destitute to the dept that you seem so intent on putting us into and have no dowery for me to marry with or would you like to tell him to go away and continue spending as frivolously as you do?"

Lady Beaufort seemed to have no reply for her daughter.

"Exactly as I thought. I will be out eventually to break my fast. Tell any possible suitor that I'm down with a terrible headache."

Her mother left the room with no great protest as Hyra's eyes struggled to return to the book in front of her. The numbers had begun mixing themselves late last night, when her lamp was still halfway full, and had not returned themselves to normal despite her failure to stay awake to finish dealing with them. She grabbed the closest thing to her hand and threw it forwards out of anger. The previously full wine glass shattered upon impact with the wall. Hyra's head moved to her hands, trying to rub the distinction out of her eyes.

Moments later the door opened again, this time revealing one Elena Sloan. "Dear god what is wrong with you, Hy?"

"I'm fine El."

"Then explain the glass in the wall that I know didn't just 'slip out of your hand' because it's on the other side of the room!"

"Target practice," she tried, not caring to formulate a good lie.

"Who was the target? Your dead father?"

Hyra suddenly remembered the portrait of the dead blonde her glass had almost hit. Well, it's not like it would kill him. She sighed and waved her hair with no real purpose other than to get rid of her friend.

"Don't wave me off," Elena sounded upset but said it with a smile on her face.

When Hyra looked up at her with distain Elena walked over a hugged her friends head. "Come with me," she spoke lightly, trying to comfort the girl, "we can break our fasts together, you'll feel better after."

"I can't," Hyra mumbled into Elena's stomach, "I need to finish the accounts for this month."

"You can do that once you've eaten."

Hyra leaned farther into the hug as the woman she considered her older sister tried to untangle the mess upon her head. "How did you manage to get it this bad?"

"I haven't the slightest, but given that my back also hurts worse than usual, I'd assume they're correlated."

Elena backed away and pulled Hyra to the door. "We are going to break our fasts then I will comb this mass off your head and then, you may come back into this room and not a moment before."

"What did I do to deserve you, El?"

"You saved me."

"My best decision."