Elizabeth wanted to lose herself in Laszlo as she remained hovering over his lap, not wanting to move from the position she was in. She quite enjoyed being so close to Laszlo, finding that no matter how much time had passed, she never tired of being with him. The thrill of his body pressed to hers never disappeared. The longing she felt whenever she was entangled with him never dwindled. She never ceased to shudder when he moved his fingers against her in a certain way.

But she was soon ripped from her piece of solace when the door banged open, hitting the wall behind it. Elizabeth's lips tore apart from Laszlo's as the alienist kept his hand on his wife's hip, stopping her from toppling off of him and towards the floor. He moved to look to the door, seeing Diana stood there, cheeks puffed out and white. She looked as though she had seen a ghost.

"It's Charlotte…that woman…she came for her…"

"What?" Elizabeth shrieked, moving herself from Laszlo's lap and standing on her feet, finding herself slightly unsteady as she looked to Diana and Laszlo managed to move to his feet with the help of his cane. "Diana, where did she take her?"

"I…I don't know," Diana said with a shake of her head. "She threatened Emily and Lucy if Charlotte didn't go with her. I didn't know what to do."

"You did what you had to," Laszlo promised her as his wife instantly took off and he knew that he couldn't keep up with her in his current state. "Elizabeth! Elizabeth, please, don't do anything brash!"

But his wife wasn't listening to him. She was running away, moving through the house and towards the kitchen to the back door. Grabbing hold of the handle, she turned it quickly and ran out into the night air, feeling the cold breeze of it against her skin as she rushed along the path.

"Charlotte!" she yelled her daughter's name. "Charlotte!"

"Elizabeth!"

Turning her head to the side, she peered into the dark and just about made out the noise in the distance. She abandoned the trail of the path and moved along the sand, trying not to fall over the uneven surface as she picked her skirts up and moved them out of the way of her feet. She looked up and down the shore, her eyes adjusting to the darkness as she tried to spot Charlotte. But she wasn't on the sand. Looking to the darkness of the water, the only light came from where the moon landed on the waves in the distance. But Elizabeth could see clearly enough. She could see Charlotte in the water. It lapped at her waist as Beatrice stood behind her, a blade in her grip and pointed at Charlotte's neck.

"Charlotte!" Elizabeth's high-pitched yell echoed in the distance and she slowed as she came to the damp sand where the tide had been just hours ago. She moved cautiously, a hand in front of her as she looked to her daughter.

"It's alright," she promised Charlotte, her tone soft and gentle as she tried not to let worry take over her. "It's all going to be alright."

"You lie so prettily," Beatrice sniped out to Elizabeth, her tone one of disgust and anger. "But you see, I came to realise something when I was laid in that hotel room after my own daughter attacked me…I realised that she would never be with me willingly…not like how I want her to be…so if I can't have her in this life then perhaps she will want to be with me in the next life."

"You don't want to do that," Elizabeth said to her, voice firm as she moved closer, her feet now getting wet as she stepped into the water.

"Don't I?" Beatrice demanded, voice on the verge of hysterical. "Because she doesn't want me! You took her from me! You took her away!"

"We never knew," Elizabeth replied, tone firm and curt. "We never knew what your mother and sisters did, nor did Charlotte. Beatrice, listen to me, doing this will not bring you any peace. It will do nothing but bring you pain."

"And how would you know that?" Beatrice demanded.

"Because I know how it feels to lose a child," Elizabeth said to her as she heard Laszlo's voice yell her name in the distance and she knew she didn't have much time until he arrived. "I was married before…before Laszlo…and I lost a child, Beatrice. His name was James and there's not a day that goes by where I don't think about him…where I don't miss him."

"You think you can relate to me?"

"I know that we're very different," Elizabeth said to Beatrice. "I know that we have absolutely nothing in common except for one thing…we're both mothers. We both would do anything to protect our children and I know that you feel that. I know you feel the ache inside of you at the thought of losing Charlotte…the pain is indescribable…"

Beatrice didn't say anything and Elizabeth continued moving towards her, the water moving up to her inner thigh as she tried to remain composed.

"You feel hollow," Elizabeth continued talking, Beatrice watching her intensely as she kept on talking in a low voice. "The emptiness you feel never goes away and can never be filled. You feel as though you have failed because you couldn't keep your own child safe…you couldn't protect them…and every night you go to sleep and you hope that, for just a moment, you'll forget what's happened…you'll forget all the pain…and when you do wake up you have one fleeting moment where you wonder if it had all just been a dream."

"Until you realise it's not," Beatrice finished off and Elizabeth nodded her head in agreement.

"Until you realise it's not," Elizabeth echoed back to her. "And I know that you're hurting right now. I can understand the pain you're feeling, but that pain…even if you take your own life…it will be indescribable for those few fleeting moments. You'll hurt even more than you think possible, Beatrice. You're a mother. You're Charlotte's mother and you need to protect her. You need to put her first, even if that means enduring your own suffering. That's what being a mother is about…looking after your child, regardless of anything."

"I don't want to lose her," Beatrice said, tears falling down her cheeks as Elizabeth nodded. She understood that feeling completely. She continued moving closer to her, her skirts now sticking around her legs as she tried to fight off the feeling of fear that was rising inside of her. She was so close to Charlotte. She just needed Beatrice to move that knife from her neck.

"I know," Elizabeth said to her, "but doing this will not bring her back to you. You love her, don't you?"

"Of course I love her," Beatrice said, her body shaking with sobs as she spoke.

"Then let her go. If you love her then let her go. This…what you have planned…it will not bring you any closure. Believe me."

Beatrice lifted the knife away from Charlotte's neck and her grip slackened. Elizabeth looked to her and the teenager rushed forwards through the water as Beatrice fell to her knees, the water now lapping at her chin. Elizabeth grabbed hold of Charlotte's arms, tugging her behind her body and forcing her to run to the shore where Laszlo had limped down to. She saw her husband on the wet sand as he held his good arm out towards Charlotte and enveloped her against him. Her gaze met his and she could make out the nod he sent to her. It was a stern nod, telling her to come back to the shore.

But Elizabeth remained stood where she was in the water. She looked back to Beatrice and watched the woman for a few moments, her gaze roaming over her figure.

"I just wanted her to love me," Beatrice sobbed and Elizabeth almost pitied the woman. "Why would she not love me?"

"You should have told her the truth," Elizabeth declared. "If you had come to us, we would have worked something out…but what you've done…killing innocent children…lying to her…it was wrong, Beatrice. You know that."

"And now you have her," Beatrice continued crying. "You have my daughter…my little girl…do you love her like your own?"

"I'd do anything for her," Elizabeth said to Beatrice. "I love her just as I love Lucy and Emily."

"Then look after her," Beatrice said. "Look after her and keep her safe."

Elizabeth wondered why the woman was talking in such a tone, but then she saw the water change colour. It went from a dark navy blue to a deep red colour. Beatrice collapsed back against the incoming waves, her body floating as Elizabeth rushed out towards her, wading further into the ocean and grabbing her body, holding her waist in her grip and seeing her slit wrists, the knife nowhere to be seen in her hands.

"Beatrice," Elizabeth hissed down to her. "Beatrice…stay with me…"

"Charlotte," Beatrice whispered her daughter's name, looking to the night sky above her. "I love you so much, my darling girl."

And then her breathing went shallow and her eyes stilled, not once blinking again. Elizabeth peered down onto her and bowed her head, letting out a deep breath before turning her head over her shoulder and seeing Laszlo knelt on the floor with Charlotte next to him, holding her firmly against his chest as she sobbed into his shirt. Elizabeth shook her head at him and he nodded once as his wife kept hold of Beatrice in the freezing water.

…

"What did you say to her?"

It was early in the morning by the time things had calmed down in the house. The police had come and Elizabeth had given her accounts of the event alongside Laszlo and Charlotte. The officer had deemed it unnecessary for them to come to the station, seeing clearly that it had been suicide. They had taken Beatrice's body away and Elizabeth had gone back into the house with Charlotte under her arm and Laszlo by her other side.

She had helped Charlotte change out of her wet clothes and into her nightgown. She had held her as she sobbed and told Elizabeth how sorry she was for everything that had happened. Elizabeth promised her she had nothing to apologise for. She had held her until she had gone to sleep, Laszlo making a tonic to help her. Checking on Emily and Lucy, Elizabeth had thanked Diana for all her help before telling her to go and get some sleep.

Returning to their own room, Laszlo had closed the door and helped his wife with the laces at the back of her corset, tugging them lose and feeling her shudder. The cold had gotten into her and even though she was now wrapped up in a robe and sat by the fireplace in the bedroom, she found she couldn't warm up. Leaning forwards in the chair, she rubbed her hands over the flames as Laszlo took the other chair, handing his wife a glass of whiskey.

"Who?" Elizabeth asked from her husband.

"Beatrice," he spoke her name. "She let Charlotte go because of something you said."

Elizabeth nodded her agreement and turned her head to the side so that she could look at him. "I told her nothing that was untrue," she said. "I told her that I knew how it felt to lose a child…that emptiness…the feeling of desperation…it seemed to resonate with her."

Laszlo nodded thoughtfully at hearing her say that. "You appealed to her as a mother," he commented.

"Despite everything, Laszlo, she is a mother," Elizabeth said. "And she wasn't always the monster she became."

"Perhaps not," Laszlo agreed on that point.

Elizabeth pulled her hair over one shoulder. The ends of it were still damp from the water and had dried hard, feeling almost like straw. Laszlo watched her down the drink he had given her, tossing it down her throat and then placing the glass on the floor next to the chair. Letting out a shaky breath, she leant forwards and Laszlo took it upon himself to reach for her hand that she had rested on her thigh.

"You're still freezing," he said to her.

"I'm fine," she promised him.

"Come here," Laszlo urged from her.

He somehow managed to pull her to her feet and guide her towards him. He moved so that she was perched on his lap, letting her rest against his good side. He moved his arm around her waist and used his bad hand to run up and down her arm that was near him. She moved her head against his shoulder, the tops of her head sitting by his bearded chin.

"Are you sure this isn't hurting you?"

"Anything but," Laszlo said to his wife.

"You know that Charlotte might need to talk to someone at some stage, don't you?" Elizabeth asked from her husband. "She's been through a lot and I imagine a lot of it will weigh heavy on her mind."

"I have been thinking about that," Laszlo confessed as Elizabeth moved a hand to his chest, feeing it rise and fall gently, the movement soothing her. "I don't know if I would be the best person for her to talk to, but I think that Jane might help her. Of course, if she doesn't wish to talk to Jane then there is nothing we can do, but it might be beneficial for her."

"We can only suggest it and see how she feels," Elizabeth responded. "I just…I want things to go back to how they were, but I know that isn't possible, not after Charlotte has seen so much trauma in her life."

"I agree, but Charlotte is incredibly resilient, Elizabeth, we must not forget that to be true."

"I know she is," Elizabeth said to him. "And I hope that in time she will be able to recover from what has happened to her. I know that she has us…and we will be there for her through this."

"She is strong," Laszlo emphasised once more. "And I suspect that she gets that strength from being around such a strong woman for a mother."

Elizabeth picked her gaze up. Looking up to her husband, her gaze met his and he moved his hand along her arm to pick her hand up, holding her fingers inside of his and squeezing them tightly. She scoffed and shook her head at him.

"I'm hardly strong, Laszlo. I just have you to lean on all of the time."

"You do yourself a disservice, my darling," Laszlo told his wife. "After everything you've been through, you still keep going. You still are so kind, caring and nurturing. You may doubt yourself, but I will never doubt you. I will never doubt your strength."

Elizabeth moved to kiss him then, her lips firmly planting themselves on his as he languished in the feeling, wanting nothing more than to keep her pressed against him for that entire evening.

…

Elizabeth had slept in the next morning and she wondered where Laszlo had gotten to. They had stayed awake talking until the sun broke and only then did she fall asleep. She looked to the clock on the wall before moving to her feet. Reaching for the robe she had left at the bottom of the bed, she shrugged her body into it and tied the sash around her waist. The silk material cascaded down to her thighs as she padded barefoot through the house, her white nightgown sticking out of the light blue robe.

"Laszlo?" she called out her husband's name.

But she had no response. Moving down the corridors and towards the dining room, she heard the noise of laughter enter her ears. Furrowing her brow, she wondered what was going on as she stepped towards the patio doors that were wide open. The sun was shining down and there wasn't a cloud in the sky as Elizabeth looked outside, letting her eyes adjust to the brightness.

"Ah, there you are."

Elizabeth looked to see Laszlo sat on the bench by the patio door, already dressed in a fresh suit. He had on a green waistcoat over his white shirt and black tie. Looking to his wife, he saw that she was still in her nightwear, her hair a nest of curls on her head.

"What's going on out here?" Elizabeth wondered.

But she had no reason to wonder for long. She looked into the distance and saw Lucy jumping up and down, moving from one foot to two as Charlotte stood besides her. They were playing hopscotch as Diana sat on the grass next to them, Emily crawling on the ground and tugging up tufts of grass and throwing them into the air.

"Lucy wanted to come outside and play," Laszlo said. "Charlotte seemed more than happy to entertain her."

"I can see that," Elizabeth replied and sat down next to Laszlo, not caring that she had no shoes on as she felt the grass beneath her feet. "How are they this morning?"

"I would say that they are doing quite well," Laszlo informed his wife and she nodded her agreement with that point. "Charlotte hasn't really said anything about last night and I simply told Lucy that everything was fine."

"Did she believe you?"

"I think so," Laszlo replied. "She is still very perceptive for her age."

"That she is," Elizabeth concurred with him and Emily suddenly shrieked loudly.

"Mummy!"

"Mummy come and play," Lucy shouted, her shrill laughter echoing around the yard as Elizabeth looked to them and Charlotte stood behind Lucy.

"Let me go and get dressed first," Elizabeth said.

"Why?" Lucy complained, hopscotching once more on the ground as Charlotte looked to Elizabeth and nodded her head, silently urging for her to come.

Sighing, Elizabeth looked to her husband. "Will they always be so demanding?" she muttered and Laszlo chuckled as he moved closer to his wife, nose brushing hers as he moved in to kiss, whispering hoarsely against her lips before he did so.

"I suspect they get that trait from me."

"Then I'll blame you," Elizabeth promised as she pulled back from him and stood up.

Moving over the grass, she tied her robe tighter around her body as she stood before Lucy and her daughter began jumping once against as Elizabeth copied her movements and Laszlo watched his family as they played in the grass and laughed loudly. Throwing her head over her shoulder, Elizabeth looked to her husband and he shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly as she smiled widely, both of them wondering if they could have peace again for the first time in a long time.

...

A/N: Only a couple more chapters before things are wrapped up. Would love to know if anyone is still reading/interested in me finishing this off!