'Papa can be so insufferable sometimes!' Ella fumed once she and Henry were alone in their room once again. 'Why is it, that when any of us want to do anything for ourselves, we always have to do battle first? Well, all of us except Mary,' she explained bitterly, her hormones very much getting the better of her.

Henry had long given up trying to interrupt her rantings and sat silently as he watched her pace up and down. He hoped she would get it out of her system soon, as she was looking exhausted and he was worried about what the stress was doing to her blood pressure.

'I know what they did for me. By raising me as their own they allowed me the opportunity to be with my birth mother, to have her as part of my life with neither of us facing any shame; I do understand all of that, but I was never destined to be some great Lady over a big house. Mary was always raised to be that, Edith too, but Sybbie and I always wanted our own lives, very different from this one. Why is it that Papa cannot see that?!' She fumed.

'Ella, my darling, please come and sit down for a while; I'm getting a sore neck from just looking at you pacing,' Henry said at long last, making Ella stop in mid step.

'You're right, I'm sorry,' she said as she placed herself on his knee and ran her fingers through his hair, placing a couple of very gentle kisses to his lips. 'I just feel so frustrated sometimes. I've changed so much in the last year and so much has happened to me that I have to remind myself that this is who I really am. I want us to have such a wonderful life together, with our children and I want to have a different life with Mam and Dad. I'm tired of hiding all the time and stealing a few minutes here and there.'

'I know darling, I think Robert understands that too, but you're his child and he loves you, very much. He does want you to be happy, but I think he still wants to protect you from the world; after everything that you have been through when you came into this world, your childhood and then after everything you discovered in the last year, he just wants to keep you safe,' Henry explained softly as he nuzzled Ella's neck and rubbed her growing bump.

'I do understand that he wants to protect me, but I also think that he regrets the relationship I have with Mam; he isn't quite as understanding as Mama is and I don't know how to make him see that I love him just as much as my other family. I don't love one more than the other,' She explained sadly.

'Perhaps it will just take time my darling; it has only been a year after all, it will take time for you all to get used to some adjustments. Maybe you should consider talking to him, openly about exactly how it is you feel,' he suggested.

'I don't want to hurt him though, I could never do anything to hurt Papa,' she replied quietly.

'Why don't you go downstairs to him now and talk with him. You always said that you wanted no more secrets and lies, well now is your chance to be honest.'

Ella nodded her head slightly and knew that her husband was right, so she reluctantly peeled herself away from him and went in search of her father. She knew him well enough though to know, that when he had things on his mind, or he wanted to be a lone, he often hid in his dressing room, which is exactly where he was now, staring out of the window onto the grounds. He turned round when he heard the gentle tapping.

'Might I come in Papa?' She asked tentatively, unsure of the welcome she would now get, as she peered around the door.

'Of course you can, my darling little one,' he said brightly and with a warm, genuine smile, as he encouraged her inside and used his affectionate term for his youngest daughter, which told Ella that all would be well between them.

'Papa, I wanted to apologise for upsetting you, it was never mine or Henry's intentions,' she said as she stood in front of him and he guided her onto the bed.

'You don't have to apologise Ella; it is me who needs to apologise to you and to Henry too. I shouldn't have reacted like that, but it came as such as shock,' he said as he sat beside her.

'I know it did Papa and I am sorry, truly. You and Mama mean so very much to me, I love you both so dearly and I promise you, that this idea is not as a direct result of what I found out a year ago. Unlike Mary and Edith I never wanted to be a Lady or some other title in a grand house, taking charge of some estate or other, it's not who I am, although I never quite expected myself to be married to a doctor either. However, Henry makes me so very happy Papa and I love him with all my heart, but this isn't who he is either. We both realise that you and Mama have done your best to make him feel comfortable here and as part of the family and he does, but there is now more to our lives than each other and I don't just mean our baby,' Ella explained calmly.

'And I realise that Ella,' Robert replied.

'I realise that my life will be very different when I move from here, but I hope you can see why it is that I have to move.'

'And does this have anything to do with Mrs Hughes?' He asked with a slightly disapproving tone and Ella didn't know how best to answer him.

'Papa, you and Mama will always be my parents; nothing will ever change that for me, but you have to understand that you share me with Mrs Hughes. When I found out that she is my mother last year, you and Mama agreed to let her play a more maternal role in my life, something that I am so very grateful to you both for. However, every time Elsie and I try to spend time together, here, at the house, well we're constantly in fear that the staff will find out when we are secretly trying to steal moments together. It just isn't enough Papa and now that the baby is on its way, well, I want her to be able to be a grandmother. I really don't want to hurt you and Mama, but Elsie is going to be a grandmother too and I will not have my child placed in the same position I was; I will not lie to him or her about who Elsie is to them,' Ella explained calmly, choosing her words carefully, but ensuring that Robert knew exactly where it was that she stood.

'I can understand that I suppose,' Robert replied thoughtfully, finding it hard to admit to himself that he did indeed have to share his beloved daughter. 'You must think my words and my actions most abhorrent,' he added.

Ella sat silently for a few moments before replying, 'I don't think them abhorrent Papa; but I do want to find a way for my two families to be able to co-exist, without me hurting either one of you.'

Robert placed his arm around her shoulder and they sat together in comfortable silence. The fire in the grating crackled warmly as the father and daughter enjoyed their few moments together, until Ella spoke.

'Will you come and visit us Papa, in our cottage?' She asked.

'Of course I will my darling,' he whispered and for the first time, he genuinely meant it.

'And I promise I will come here to visit you all, quite probably every day until the baby is born; which I very much hope you will allow to be born here,'

'Of course; if that is what you want,' he replied.

Ella smiled brightly at him and gave him a warm, loving hug and a kiss on the cheek before wishing him goodnight, feeling happier and more at peace. He still felt uneasy, like he was trying to hold water in his hands, but was watching it trickle through his fingers. He didn't want to lose Ella, but he did realise, that to prevent losing her, he needed to let her go.