Without coming out from under her coverlet, Sophia told Mary Margaret to go away. Today marked three weeks that Nathan had been missing. Three weeks! The realization made her shudder. She had gotten up every day, dressed, and forced herself to go through her routine, though when she retired at night and lay in her bed she could not recall a thing she had done from day to day. What she could recall was that Ellison, as he’d bid her call him, spoke Nathan’s name in the hushed tones one used to speak of the dead. Because of that, she could hardly countenance talking with him and had gone out of her way to avoid him, even as he had tried to be nice. Amelia and her husband were wonderful people and had taken to entertaining Harry, thank heaven. Sophia couldn’t muster the energy to smile, let alone keep Harry occupied. Despite liking Nathan’s friends, whenever she spied them in unguarded moments, the perpetual smiles they wore when vowing to her that Nathan would be located in perfect health slipped away to the frowns of concern.
