Isaac Mann chatted with William Cole for two hours before he finally took his leave from Thirteen Hall.
William Cole acted as if none of it had happened, asking Michele Keith to close the grand doors of Thirteen Hall, then he himself went to the backyard to play with the children.
At the moment Isaac Mann left Thirteen Hall, Ruth Dawn was having dinner in the Dawn family's main hall.
Archie Dawn, Eloise Torres, Ruth Dawn, Elsie Dawn, Maxim Lawson, and others were all present, dining in a heavy atmosphere.
The Dawn family had risen to prominence, now the largest family in the north, yet joy around the dinner table could no longer return.
Back when they were in Midocen, they used to discuss trivial daily matters, full of familial warmth.
But now, it was either discussions about business affairs, acquisitions of land by the Dawn family's major companies, or how much profit the companies had made, lacking the homeliness of the past.