The following days passed too swiftly. Charlotte had indeed started to make enquiries with the aim of settling her own future plans before her interview with Lady Catherine, but she had not had adequate time to pursue any of the options available to her in any meaningful manner. The enquiries to agents regarding leases of suitable homes had only elicited a few, mostly inappropriate, responses thus far, and she was beginning to fear that her only option on leaving Hunsford would be to return to her parents' home at Lucas Lodge. This was not a future that she had envisaged for herself as she approached her 30th birthday, and she recoiled from the idea of having to raise her child under the, no doubt well-meaning, but still oppressive presence of her own parents.

She looked again at the letters and papers scattered across her small desk. She had calculated, recalculated, economised, and scrimped as carefully as she could, but still could not make her finances tally with any of the realities before her. By her most optimistic estimates, she would require considerably more than the £50 that was to come to her annually if she were to live in any kind of comfort. She sighed, and promised herself that she would wait one more day to see if any other letting agents responded with better options before contacting her parents to tell them to expect her return within the week. With everything done that could be done at her desk, she retired to her parlour to enjoy the last of the day's light and to watch the evening draw in quietly.

The next day did indeed bring several items by post, including three very welcome letters whose hand she immediately recognised. Lizzy Darcy's scrawl was not neat, and often took considerable ciphering skills to make out, but her letters were always worth persisting with as they brought much delight through her pithy comments about her neighbours, her family's antics, and her gentle mockery of her own foibles. Charlotte had wondered at not hearing earlier from Lizzy, but saw now that all three letters had been posted from different locations and some days apart. The family must have been travelling and the letters had obviously been delayed en route somehow. This was not an unusual occurrence in the parish, and Charlotte suspected that the delay had happened closer to her home than to the letters' source. Indeed she was quite certain that the only person in the parish who received their letters promptly was Lady Catherine. The other residents seemed to receive their post only when the local postmaster was not otherwise employed in his other businesses.

Charlotte determined to save Lizzy's epistles until last and first opened the other two items which had arrived. Both were disappointments. Both were from agents offering two delightful houses that were far beyond her means to take. She spent a few seconds imagining what it would be like to be able to accept either of them, before resignedly folding up the pages neatly and putting them in the growing pile of offers to be acknowledged and declined. With hopes of some distraction, she then turned to Lizzy's offerings.

The first was dated well over a week previously and began in customary fashion with some second hand news of various pieces of gossip gathered by Lizzy's younger sister Kitty about some of the residents of Meryton. Lizzy continued with some of the escapades of her own young son, who seemed to have inherited his mother's vivacity and his father's stubborn nature. As such, he was certainly keeping them fully occupied. The main body of the letter concluded with the welcome news that soon Pemberley would be graced by another young Darcy, as Elizabeth was increasing again. She wrote vividly of the fun they could have when next they met comparing their expansions. It was typically Lizzy and brought a smile to Charlotte's face.

The next letter was dated just two days later, and Charlotte could see before she even opened it that its author had, in the intervening period, been apprised of the change in Charlotte's situation. It was written on heavily edged mourning paper and conveyed her friend's condolences and expressions of sorrow at Charlotte's loss. It was beautifully worded, and though Charlotte knew that Lizzy had had few allusions about the realities of her friend's marriage, she had never once acknowledged them in voice or in written word, and she certainly did not make any untoward comment now. Lizzy's husband had also added his own words to the close of the letter, expressing similar sentiments to his wife. This letter concluded with the Darcys' regrets that they would be unable to come to Charlotte imminently, as Lizzy's own father had been suddenly taken ill the day before and they had been forced to rush to his bedside as matters appeared grave.

The final letter was dated just two days ago and had evidently made fine speed. The salutation was more cheerful and Charlotte was quickly assured that the danger to Lizzy's father had passed and the Darcys were now installed at Pemberley once more. Lizzy intimated that she had originally planned to visit Charlotte as soon as she had been able to settle her family at home, but that they had suddenly realised a better plan may be if they asked Charlotte to come to them.

"I can imagine, dear friend," Lizzy had written, "that a remove from your current abode, to be in quiet company with old friends and with the opportunity for fresh vistas and peaceful walks, might well lift your spirits and help you to heal. I am also aware that you will anticipate many alterations in the near future, and we would be so happy if we could offer a space in which you could consider your next steps in tranquillity and at your ease. There will, of course, be no society here, all will be quiet and as it should be for your circumstances. Do say you will come. We will send a carriage immediately that we hear from you. And we hope that you will agree to make your stay a prolonged one. Please write as soon as you can. I cannot wait to welcome you to Pemberley."

Charlotte contemplated the letter with some care. Lizzy was impulsive and her regard for societies' behavioural norms was sometimes somewhat lacking. Charlotte knew that, despite her assurances of quietude at Pemberley, some may well still look askance at a recent widow like herself embarking on such a visit in the immediate aftermath of her husband's decease. However, she was also aware that she had to go somewhere, and that time was increasingly pressing upon her. She considered her other, limited, options, and decided that a quiet removal to Pemberley could surely be accomplished with little attention and fuss. And she rationalised that, once there, she would lead such a quiet and retiring life that no one would be able to say that her visit was anything but restrained and proper. Besides which, she admitted to herself, she was bursting with curiosity to see Pemberley, and to feel the welcome comforting balm of Lizzy's friendship in person.

Yes, she would go. Lady Catherine had emphasised that Charlotte's 'friends of considerable means' could be of assistance to her, and they were indeed proving to be so. However, what Charlotte knew and what Lady Catherine de Bourgh would never understand, was that it was their considerable goodness and kindness that were of most value to Charlotte. That manner of assistance would always be alien to Lady Catherine's mind.