The seat was empty.
Isabella noticed it the moment she walked into the dining room. Miriam's chair, sitting there untouched, the plate in front of it still clean and unturned.
She sat down, shook out her napkin, and leaned slightly toward Judith who was standing just behind her chair.
"Where is she?" she asked quietly.
Knowing exactly who Isabella was talking about, Judith bent down. "She said she wasn't hungry, my lady," she murmured. "She asked to be left alone."
Isabella straightened up slowly. "She asked to be left alone," she repeated.
"Yes, my lady." Judith nodded firmly
Isabella looked at the empty chair for a long moment. "That woman," Isabella said, to no one and everyone at once, "is carrying a child. She does not simply get to decide not to eat. She is not just starving herself."
Nobody responded, which was the correct response.
