And then came the blasphemous prompting: I was a good wife. I kept every promise I made, fulfilled every part of the bargain I made. And still my son was taken from me. What point is there in fidelity, then? Swift on its heels came the response: The girls. My girls. I cannot risk their happiness, not even here in the privacy of my chamber, the secrecy of my own heart. She got to her feet and shook herself, fighting back both the tremble of want and bludgeoning guilt.

Even more than a wife, she was a mother: she could do nothing, not even in thought, that in any way imperilled Sarah and Laura, or their happiness or station in life. That night, she would read her daughters improving tales, and then she would write her husband a diligent account of the innocent pleasures of the day. And they were innocent – barring that brush of skin and hair and warmth across her pulse. Which she was determined to put from her mind.

CHAPTER XXX

THE NEXT MORNING, THE USUAL tranquillity prevailed at the breakfast table, and Herr Rosenstein was as courteous and friendly to both Charlotte and Lizzy as always. If his colour was slightly heightened, Charlotte could ascribe it to any number of things, and she herself was assiduous in speaking as pleasantly as possible of general matters. She was fortunate to have both a distraction for herself and a topic of conversation for her companions: another, briefer, missive from Miss de Bourgh awaited her, and she opened it with some anticipation. Who knew what further surprises Anne might deliver?

My dear Mrs Collins,

I have not joined the piratical profession – yet – but I write this from the Île Sainte-Madeleine, a tiny island (one can perambulate its circumference in a morning) populated only by nuns of the Cistercian Order, who live in austerity and grow sufficient to meet their needs in between their prayers. They take in visitors such as myself to pay for necessities such as tea, coffee, and flour; I discovered this thanks to a chance encounter with the local père. His English matched my French, and so we were able to cobble together a conversation – which led to the happy discovery of this refuge.