house is run as you would have had it run, Mama, and I shall not let you down.”

“Good.” Elizabeth smiled to herself. “I have told Penny that you are to be in charge of anything that your uncle and aunt are too busy to oversee.”

“Thank you, Mama.”

“Goodbye, my little lady,” Elizabeth whispered, kissing Arabella’s cheek.

“Goodbye, Mama. Bring Papa back safely.”

“I shall,” Elizabeth promised and turned from the room.

The heartbreak she felt at these two conversations only grew as she departed early the next morning, looking up to see the faces of her three daughters watching down on her from the upstairs windows. She climbed into the carriage and sat beside her husband, waving to her young children until the...

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