Roxanne was about to answer that she wasn't, but Dora spoke first.
"I am. I just have to gather my things and I'll be ready right away."
And in saying this, she rushed out of the room, leaving the other two people looking at each other, puzzled.
When the young woman in red came out of the kitchen, she found Griselda at the foot of the stone stairs. She was wearing one of Blanche's prettiest dresses and her hair in a becoming half-updo. She was the only one who had used the make-up box their father had given them for these particular days and, despite her inexperience, she'd intuitively achieved an embellishing effect.
She looked happy. And much more when her fiancé, not holding a phone today, came and took her by the hand.
"Raymond has told me we're hastening our departure since everyone else seems to be leaving. I have all my things here," she said, pointing at some bags on the floor, "and it only remains for me to say goodbye."
Roxanne looked at the sacks and then looked at them. They made a nice couple. Might any good actually come of this situation? Only for the sake of prolonging Griselda's current smile, it was a worthwhile endeavour that they tried. Roxanne hugged and kissed first her and then Raymond.
"I've tried to kiss the others goodbye," Griselda said, growing sad, "but… they won't let me. They don't want me to come close to them." She was about to burst into tears.
"They're too nervous. It's got nothing to do with you."
The girl who intended never to dress in grey again said goodbye to Celeste too and climbed aboard the shiny white aircraft. Fate had wanted it that even aesthetically this moment was perfect for her. Roxanne and Celeste saw her fly away, happy for the kid and marveled at all the fabulous things that, like this takeoff, they were yet to see.
"What about the others?" asked Joseph. "What have they decided?"
"I couldn't say," Roxanne answered. "Everything is a bit… complicated at the moment."
"Nothing big brother Joseph can't fix, right?"
Mr. Harris had left his car behind the castle to catch them on the hop, and it worked.
"What brings you here?" the mentioned one asked angrily.
"Well… it turns out the old man isn't that ungrateful after all, and he's left me the freehold to the castle and its surroundings. I'm sure I'll be able to reconvert it into something more profitable than it has been."
On the basis of Harris's more than questionable veracity, Joseph, nevertheless, decided that he didn't feel like, nor would it serve any useful purpose, engaging in a discussion with him.