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Her voice wavered despite her best efforts.

"Whatever you did..." She nodded towards the unopened letter resting beside his plate, bearing the familiar Danbury seal. "Thank you. A thousand times, thank you."

Arthur looked up at her before quietly setting down his knife and fork. Without a word, he pushed back his chair and rose to his feet, reclaiming the inches of height she had stolen from him.

"It was no trouble at all."

No trouble. As though he had not quietly returned to her something she had feared she had lost forever.

The tightness in her chest became almost unbearable, as though she had not realised quite how deeply she had missed her siblings, having tucked the ache of their absence so carefully away that only now did she feel the full weight of it upon her heart.

Before she could think better of it, she rose onto her tiptoes, one foot lifting entirely from the floor, and slipped both arms around his neck, burying her face against the crook of it.

"Now this," she murmured against his neck, unable to resist borrowing his own words from earlier that day, "is the nicest thing someone has ever done for me."

She could tell she had startled him.

For several long seconds he remained perfectly still, and she wondered whether he had heard her. Then, almost hesitantly, one broad hand settled against the middle of her back, steady and reassuring, before the other followed.

Laurence cleared his throat rather theatrically, and although she could not see his expression, she knew from the slight movement beneath her cheek that Arthur's jaw had tightened in response. For the first time since making Laurence's acquaintance, she found herself sympathising entirely with Arthur's frequent exasperation at his oldest friend for choosing precisely the wrong moment to make himself known.

"So..." Laurence drawled, unable to contain himself any longer. "What does your sister say?"

Pulling away from the embrace, Eliza looked down at the bundle of letters still clutched tightly against her chest and laughed.

"I have no idea. In fact, if you both would be so kind as to excuse me, it is the first time I have heard from her in months, and I have no doubt I shall be reduced to tears of joy, so I think I shall take my leave and retire to my chambers."

She offered them both a hurried curtsey before either man had the opportunity to respond, then gathered her skirts into her hands and hurried from the dining room.

She scarcely remembered climbing the staircase, only that she reached her chambers almost at a run.

And that was how she found herself now, seated before her dressing table, with Cecily's letters scattered across the polished wood and her heart impossibly full.

She had read the letters at least a dozen times, trying to commit her words to memory in case she had to wait another year to hear from her again.

My dearest Lizzie,

Oh, how delighted I was to receive your letter! I cannot apologise enough for my silence, but I swear to you upon every ribbon I own that not a single piece of correspondence reached me until now. I had begun to think perhaps you had forgotten me.

Life is extraordinarily different now that I am a maid. One rather disappears into the wallpaper, if you understand me. Ladies speak as though you are not in the room, gentlemen scarcely notice you at all unless they require another cup of tea, and one quickly learns that servants are expected to hear everything and remember nothing. I must confess it has been a lonely existence at times. You know me well enough to know that fading quietly into irrelevance has never been among my talents.

Eliza's heart sank. Cecily had always been impossible to overlook, filling every room she entered with a touch of harmless theatrics. The thought of her believing she had become invisible was almost unbearable.

Fortunately, I have happier news to share.

Only yesterday I was promoted to lady's maid to the Countess of Danbury herself. Imagine it! My duties are greater now, but so too are the privileges. I am to assist with her gowns and jewels, help choose ribbons and gloves, and, if fortune smiles upon me, advise her on the latest fashions whenever she seeks my opinion. Better still, I have already been promised that many of her discarded fabrics may become mine. Can you imagine how excited I was? I have spent the better part of this afternoon wondering what sort of dress I might contrive from emerald silk and pale blue satin, should such treasures ever find their way into my possession.

Receiving your letter has altered my fortunes in more ways than one. The Earl himself informed me that I may write to you as little or as often as I please, and has even permitted me to use his private writing desk to do so. You will laugh when I tell you that I am writing this whilst seated in a chair almost as large as the Didleys' old sofa, in a room grand enough to swallow our entire little cottage without so much as noticing. It amazes me that two people may live within the same country and yet inhabit entirely different worlds. Still, I have no cause for complaint. Lord Danbury has shown me nothing but kindness, and I find myself grateful every day that I entered his household rather than another.

Now then... A Duchess?

Lizzie, I have reread that line no fewer than six times.

How, in Heaven's name, have you managed that?

Did you tumble headlong into the poor gentleman whilst carrying too many books? Or did your impossible habit of collecting strays finally extend itself to Dukes?

I wish with all my heart that I had been there. Though I stand firm in my belief that there is nothing more damaging in this world to a woman than marriage, there is no one in this world I would have rather seen walk down the aisle.