Thanks to Thomas and his diligent work in putting her greenhouse back together, Temperance was finally able to begin her work in full. Many of the plants inside had to be repotted, some had died in the interim, and many more had to be pruned. Occasionally she was still finding glass pieces in the dirty, but overall the damaged had been cleaned up. Malsumis had effectively ruined...well, everything. Her cabinets had been destroyed, her desk had been crushed. She was lucky that her notes and journals hadn't been damaged in the process. Putting everything back exactly the way she'd had it, though, would still take some time.

On top of that, she'd finished her first week at the Beldam and had pages and pages of notes to work through and turn into something...tangible. In another week she'd be returning, and also had to make sure all of her patients had their potions prepared ahead of time for the week she would be gone. Melody had kept up with everything well enough during the first week, but the last thing Temperance wanted was to stress her out. Melody was tough, but she was still an older woman who had a husband at home to look after.

Late nights, that was what it all equated to. The work day was over and the moon was high in the sky, but she was outside in the greenhouse nonetheless. She sat at her desk, wrapped in a thick shawl with her journal out. A stack of parchments containing notes from her work at Beldam rested in her hands. She would flip through them, something particular would catch her eye, and she'd transfer it into the journal.

After a while, though, she needed to stretch her legs. She stood from the desk and walked near the front of the greenhouse, dipping her fingers into the flower pots to make sure they didn't need any water. It was then that she heard it, the distant sound of someone weeping. Following the noise with a lantern in hand, she caught sight of a shape by her gates. "Hello?" She called out, a little weary at first, after everything that had happened lately. Her free hand took hold of the dagger at her hip as she approached. "Who's -- stars and stones, is that you, Lady Cortell?" Hurrying to the gate, she opened it and grabbed the woman with one arm. "Are you alright? What's happened?"

If Gunne knew that Temperance had started working at Beldam, she wouldn't have come running to her most recent friend. If she knew that Cam would ambush her in the court one of the following days, she would suspect Temperance of having told the man about her sentiments regarding the crown. But Gunne was unaware of all these things, and still saw the woman as a trusted friend and someone she could turn to when she was in need of a shoulder to cry on, or a listening ear. With Temperance she would be safe. So she thought.

For that reason, the freshly widowed woman made her way over to the greenhouse, where she would crash in front of the gate, overcome by emotions. Her cries reached the ears of the woman she wanted to see, and her teary eyes caught the image of a lantern in the distance. Trough the blur of tears, she could see a shape approaching the gate. It took Temperance a moment to recognise her, but then she asked if it was truly lady Cortell in front of her gate. Before the witch could respond, the gates swung open and the other woman placed an arm around her. Gunne continued to sob, wiping the tears away with a cold, cramped hand. "Rom- ... Romulo is dead", she managed to say in between sobs and trying to catch her breath.

Temperance had never seen Gunne like this. She was hysterical, under dressed for the season, a crumpled mess against Temperance's gate. Eyes filled with sympathy regarded the woman as she explained that her husband, Romulo Cortell, had died. It sounded sudden, and it was confusing. Temperance hadn't heard anything about his passing, but she didn't have time to worry about that now.

Helping lift Gunne to her feet, she got her free arm around the woman's shoulders and began to guide her, not to the greenhouse, but to the cottage beyond it. Gunne hadn't been inside of Temperance's home yet, as most people visited when the she was outside in the greenhouse anyway. But tonight the little cottage empty. Melody had already gone home for the evening, and Thomas was working late. Artos, hardly a puppy in size though he was still in age, had gone along with Thomas. But as they headed for the door and Temperance pushed it open, Edith the mane coon ran inside.

A fire was flickering in the fireplace, and Gunne was freezing, so that was where Temperance took her. She sat Gunne down in one of the big, comfy chairs closest to the fire and grabbed a quilt from over the back of the couch, handing it to her. Then she brushed Gunne's hair out of her face and touched the back of her hand to Gunne's forehead and cheeks. "Goodness, you're cold as ice. Let me start you some tea, just get warm."

In the kitchen, Temperance started a pot of water and waiting for it to boil. Once it was done, she made a pot of tea, something soothing and relaxing, and brought it over, offering Gunne a cup. Then she pulled up a chair of her own, one from the kitchen table, and sat close by, though somewhat to the side so the fire wasn't to her back, blocking it's warmth from reaching the noble lady. "I'm so sorry, Gunne. I cannot imagine what you're going through. What has happened? This seems so sudden."

Almost zombie-like, Gunne let Temperance guide her to her home. If she hadn't been in this state, she would have looked around to take in the cottage. She had only ever been inside of the greenhouse, so this environment was new. But she could barely see through her tears anyway. She flinched a bit when Edith walked past them, the cat she normally loved to pet. Everyone was out to get her now.

She sat down in a chair near the fireplace, nor even realising that Temperance was checking her temperature and speaking to her. She stared at the fire while the other witch went to fetch them some tea. Only after the woman had stood next to her for a minute with the tea, she realised that Temperance had returned. She accepted the cup of tea and wrapped her fingers around it so they could thaw.

"I- ... I-", she started. "I killed him." She looked up at Temperance. "Accidentally." A few quick sobs kept her from speaking, but she recollected herself. "He was teaching me how to shoot a bow and he stood too close to the target." The cup trembled in her hands. "But what if someone sabotaged the bow? What if someone is out to get me?" She still shivered from head to toe.

The sobbing words came out so suddenly that they startled Temperance. A hand moved to her chest, stunned, and then absolutely heartbroken for the woman in front of her. Despite her feelings toward the Crown - feelings that Temperance didn't necessarily disagree with, at least not entirely - she was a good person, who didn't deserve the awful things she was going through as she sat in Temperance's little cottage. The woman was clearly freezing, and hadn't even noticed that she'd been given a blanket to wrap up with. So as Gunne finally took the tea, Temperance grabbed the blanket, unfolded it, and wrapped it around Gunne's shoulders.

"Romulo was former military," she said, immediately trying to think of the best way to logically disprove the apparent paranoia that the event had caused. "If he was teaching you, he would have noticed if the bow had been tampered with - don't you think? Accidents happen, and this is...incredibly tragic, but that's all it was. An accident." He rubbed Gunne's arms over and over, another effort to warm her up. Temperance was still frowning, and worried. Gunne was in a terrible state.

"You're okay, you're safe here, and I cannot imagine how you must be feeling, but I'm sure no one is out to get you. You're just not quite feeling like yourself, you're in shock, that's all." Temperance gave Gunne a few moments to consider that, before continuing. "The most important thing to consider right now is your children - are they okay? Are they somewhere safe, with their nanny?"

She looked up, starting to come back to the real world, when Temperance wrapped a blanket around her shoulders. She hadn't noticed that her friend had given her the blanket before. She grabbed the ends of the blanket and wrapped it around herself even tighter, slowly but surely starting to warm up again.

"You're probably right", she said, still in shock, and sill having difficulty suppressing the sobs coming from deep within her chest. She appreciated Temperance's attempt to warm her up, and it was working. Gunne started to feel the sensation in her fingers and toes again.

The children. Gunne panicked again, for a moment. "I think I left them with Emma. If not, there is no reason for them to go into the yard. Romulo-," A sob escaped again, and she had to recollect herself. "Romulo will be snowed over by now. Nobody would be able to see anything from the window."

Temperance had helped a lot of people in her life. Most of them were commoners. Too poor to afford decent medicine. Some of them were hooked on things they couldn't get off of. And yes, some of them were even criminals, though petty criminals at the most. She had never had to calm someone down after an accidental killing, though. Temperance herself was a little shaken. She might not have known him well, but she had met and quite liked Gunne's husband. He'd seemed to be a kind man, devoted to his family. She couldn't imagine the weight and guilt that the accident would bear on Gunne's shoulders, having taken her children's father from them.

"There, see? Your children are fine. It's late. They're probably in their beds, safe and sound. So shhh..." she continued to rub Gunne's arm lightly, mimicking slow, deep breaths to make sure the woman didn't hyperventilate as she sobbed. "Just take some deep breaths, you're still a little too cold and you need to get warmed up."

She wished Thomas was home. He'd know the best course of action. Temperance didn't really have any idea what to do other than calm Gunne down. But there was no point in trying to reason with her until she was thinking more rationally.

The warmth and Temperance's care were comfortable... And Gunne started to drift off a bit. Her head jerked back up when it had almost reached her chest, awake again. "Yes, they're safe", she muttered silently. Then she started to drift off again, and if Temperance let her, she would fall asleep while sitting upright.