Lizzie looked up from her spot behind the pianoforte to find her cousin coming towards her. They’d yet to have a moment alone since her arrival, and she couldn’t wait to catch up with Chloe. Her dear cousin had aged in the past four years. Not that she looked old, but…mature. Her wild, red hair was contained in a soft chignon, and the corners of her eyes and mouth proved that she’d laughed and smiled a great deal in the last few years. That made Lizzie exceedingly happy. After all Chloe had been through, it seemed she’d finally found her happily ever after. What Chloe didn’t know—what she seemed uncertain of—was whether or not Lizzie had also found her happily ever after.

“Elizabeth,” she said as she approached, warmth and love in her tone and in her beaming smile. She reached out and Lizzie turned on the bench to take her hands.

“Do you think anyone will miss us if we steal away to the library for a few minutes?” Lizzie asked.

“The children are abed and the men…” They both turned their gazes to the sitting area on the other side of the room where the men laughed and drank before the fire. “Well, I think it will be all right.”

Lizzie followed her cousin down the corridor of Ashbury Manor. The familiar walls brought a warmth to her belly and smile to her lips. She’d spent many an afternoon having tea with her future sisters-in-law here. Of course, that was when she thought she was marrying Andrew.

They slipped into the warmth of the library, with its blazing fire, glowing sconces and cozy sitting area. Lizzie plopped onto the settee next to her cousin and they both tucked their legs up under themselves, as if they were young girls, eager for gossip.

Chloe reached out and grabbed Lizzie’s hands. “Now tell me, dear cousin. What have you been up to these four years?”

Lizzie laughed. “I’ve written you weekly, Chloe! You know everything.”

“Yes, I know the details of your life at Dunbocan…but I don’t know if you’re happy. Or if you’re still cross with Andrew and me. Please, tell me. Do you harbor ill feelings towards us?”

“The truth is,” Lizzie began, “I was furious. I tortured Michael for months. I wanted him to pay dearly for what he’d done. I wanted to make him as miserable as I was.”

“According to Michael’s letters to Andrew, I believe you succeeded.”

Lizzie couldn’t stop the sly smile that came to her lips as she thought back on her antics. “Well, I suppose I took it a tad far when I threw the candlestick at his head. I was fortunate my aim was off, and that he had the good sense to duck out of the way. I never would have forgiven myself had I caused permanent damage to that beautiful face.”

“It is magnificent, isn’t it?” Chloe added with a wink. Being married to twins with identical features was a funny thing, that.

“But the truth is, he never stopped believing in me. Or perhaps it was his own self he believed in so strongly. That we were meant to be. That our marriage could be a happy one if only he could break down the walls I’d built around myself.”

“And was he right?”

Lizzie nodded. “More right than I ever could have imagined. Oh, Chloe, I’ve changed so much. I’m not at all the gregarious, frivolous, silly girl I once was. And I feel just horrible for all that I put you through when you came to be my chaperone.”

“Nonsense!” Chloe stopped her, squeezing her hands tighter. “You were just what I needed. You got me out of those dreadful black dresses. You made me realize that there was life after Sam—that I could be happy.”

“Perhaps,” Lizzie agreed. “But I could have been gentler and more thoughtful about it.”

Chloe shrugged. “Perhaps. But let us put all past events aside, shall we?”

“Oh, Chloe, I have missed you so.” Tears sprang to Lizzie’s eyes, the emotion of the moment coming over her without notice. How could such a tiny thing inside of her cause so much commotion all the time? Lizzie was certain she had cried more in the last six months than she’d done in her entire life.

“Please don’t cry, dear cousin.” Chloe moved closer and put her arms around Lizzie. “We are together again, both exceedingly happy…and here you are, burgeoning with child.”

Silence fell over them, the only sound Lizzie’s sniffling.

Finally, Lizzie spoke. “That has been the hardest road of all.” Her heart twisted, thinking back on all the babies she’d lost over the last four years. All the pain she’d suffered, both physically and emotionally, waiting for God to grant her a healthy pregnancy.

Chloe squeezed her hands. “I wish I could have been there for you.”

“You were,” Lizzie assured her. “Your letters were such a great comfort to me.”

Chloe smiled. “I’m glad for that.”

“Chloe!”

“Beth!”

The sounds of their husband’s voices, almost as identical as their looks, resounded in the corridor outside the library. Both women jumped from their seats and rushed to meet their husbands at the door.

“What is it, Michael?” Lizzie asked.

Michael reached out a hand to his wife, as Andrew did the same to Chloe.

“Come,” Andrew said, tugging her down the corridor. “There is a surprise.”

The four of them rushed toward the foyer of the townhouse, where the rest of the family had gathered at the open door. Voices wafted in from the outside, a chorus of Here We Come a-Wassailing, lilting on the air.

Chloe nuzzled between Katherine and Benjamin to see over the heads of her nieces and nephews who stood on the porch, a light dusting of snow sprinkling onto their precious little heads.

At the front of the group of carolers stood her sister, Grace, her husband, the Duke of Somerset, beside her. The duke’s sister Hannah and her new husband Dr. Alcott, stood on the other side, with his sister and brother-in-law, Lord and Lady Wolverton. Even the curmudgeonly Dowager Duchess of Somerset sang out into the cold. Behind all of them stood at least twenty other women, all beaming with pride. They were the women of Hannah’s Home—the charitable organization Hannah had begun to help women of ill repute turn their lives around. It was still in the early stages, but Chloe could already see that it was going to make a huge difference in the lives of these women.

Standing there in the cold, surrounded by family, Chloe had never felt so warm.