Deeply distressed, Squire Antonio left his manse to begin his day of overseeing his workers at their tasks in the fields. "I'm a fool," he muttered to himself. "Should never have married so old to one so young and pretty." He was never good at small talk, particularly with women and, this morning what had started as awkward but pleasant talk suddenly turned Franchesca into a screaming harridan. Who knew what set her off? Certainly, Antonio didn't. He tried to calm her, but his wife apparently didn't want to be calm; at least, anything he said only seemed to make things worse between them. Finally, he gave up, left his breakfast half-eaten, and headed for the door. Franchesca broke off her tirade the moment Antonio rose up from the table and stalked for the door. She winced as he slammed the huge door shut. Suddenly, she could not remember why she had been so angry. True, he was old and rather clumsy when it came to dealing with women, but she had no doubt that he loved her and, after almost a year of marriage to him, his gentleness and awkward attentiveness had won the plump young woman's devotion. Stricken, Franchesca rushed out the door, wanting to run after him, but she was pregnant and feared tripping if she chased after her husband. "Luci, come quickly!" she yelled back into the house. Her maid appeared almost immediately at her side. "Hurry!" Franchesa cried. "Go after him! Tell him that I'm sorry; that I love him." Nodding, Franchesca ran after Antonio, calling out his name. ******* Credits: Antonio: DAZ's Michael 3, using "Old Man" morphs and texture by Frywerks, "Loki Hair" by Modualz and Traveler, wearing "Beast Master" clothing by ABen and textured by Colm, both over at RDNA. Franchesca: DAZ's Victoria 3, using "Betsy" morphs and textures by dalinise, "FK-Divine Hair" by wenke, wearing DAZ's Morphing Fantasy Dress. Sorry, don't recall who made the texture for it. Luci: DAZ's Victoria 3, using "V3 NaturalSkin vol.3" by MaskEdit, "Windy Hair" by danae, wearing the "Empire Gown" by Traveler and Shadownet, using "Rags to Riches: RDNA Empire Gown Texture Expansion" by Transpond, both purchased from RDNA. Country House: modeled and textured by Alfons Blom. Shrubs: modeled and textured by Modualz (RDNA). Fir Trees: Bryce generic object retextured by me. Smoke: Natural Smoke by keihan. Thanks for looking and for any constructive or encouraging comments. Regards, Jeremy