Extended Epilogue
“Mama, what is this?”
Helena looked up from her correspondence to find Charlotte standing in the doorway of the library, a familiar leather-bound journal clutched in her hands. At fourteen, her daughter had grown into a striking young woman, Edmund’s dark eyes set in a face that carried echoes of Helena’s own determined features. She would be presented to society in two years, a thought that filled Helena with equal measures of pride and terror.