But she had not been in a position to spend money when she could save it.
She regretted that, now.
“Have you found a place yet?” Sarah asked the morning before Letitia was due to leave, her one-week deadline nearing its expiration.
“Sarah,” Letty said sweetly. “My dearest and oldest friend. The sister I would have chosen, given the choice. If you ask me that again, I am going to throttle you.”
“It’s going marvelously, then,” Sarah said, undeterred by Letitia’s threat of violence. Letitia threw a pillow at her. She missed.
The housekeeper, taking pity on her, offered to help out with Iris while Letitia chased down different possibilities for lodgings. Letty’s standards weren’t overarchingly high, but she was resolutely disheartened by what she found.
Either places were already snatched up, outrageously outside of Letitia’s budget, or so run down or dangerous—or both—that she did not dare stay there for as much as a single night.
She returned to Rutley House that night, feeling disheartened. It was hard to say what possibility was more horrifying—admitting to Ezra that she actually needed to stay longer than she had originally declared, or living in one of the places she had seen that afternoon.
Sarah bounced on her toes in excitement when Letitia entered the sumptuous bedchamber that, for one more night, would belong to her.
“Guess what, guess what?” she cried. Before Letitia could answer, Sarah thrust a leaflet into her hand. “The duke said that he was out and about today and found this!”
Letitia looked at the paper, scarcely daring to hope. The place was… serviceable. No, it was beyond serviceable. It was neat, well-maintained, and in an entirely respectable neighborhood.It ought to cost far more than the paper announced, but Letitia supposed that itwassmall.
She didn’t need space, though. She would be perfectly happy with a small one.
She beamed at Sarah. “This is remarkable.”
“Isn’t it?” Sarah looked so excited that Letty might have thought that her friend was the one destined to live there. “I suppose it rather pays to be a duke. When you are looking for something, you find only the best.”
Letitia could not help but smile. She did not believe for a minute that Ezra hadjust foundthis place. He had asked people. She did not even have enough knowledge of ducal affairs to know whom he had spoken to, but she knew he had asked someone. He had done that for her.
“I will go see them at the posted address,” she told Sarah. “First thing in the morning.”
Letitia slept deeply that night, the worry that had been weighing upon her these past few days pleasantly absent.
When she dressed and packed the next day, deciding to be optimistic about the leaflet and take her possessions with her, she went downstairs to find Ezra waiting for her.
She was genuinely happy to see him. It had not sat well with her to think she might leave without saying goodbye. She couldn’t help but notice how different that felt compared to how she’d felt when she left Peter’s house.
Then, she had been half-choked with terror that everything would fall apart at the last moment. She had not taken a full breath until she had been away from his house for a few days.
Now, the only thing clogging her throat was sadness.
She would miss living here. It was messy, complicated, and dangerous. But she would miss it.
“Everything all right?” Ezra asked, a small, bittersweet smile on his face.
She nodded. “Yes, of course,” she lied. She pasted a smile on her face, hoping it looked a little more convincing than his. “Thank you for the leaflet, by the way. I am going to go see to it right away.”
“No need for thanks,” he said, and it felt good to see the glimmer of amusement lurking behind his eyes. “As I told Sarah, I just happened upon it.”
“Oh,” she said, making it clear that she didn’t believe him for a moment. “Of course. My mistake.”
“Don’t trouble yourself,” he teased. “It’s an easy error to make.”
She chuckled. It felt comfortable, bantering with him. It still hurts a little. But it felt good, too.
“Can I…” He so rarely looked at a loss, but now, Ezra glanced down at his shoes before continuing. “Would you allow me to accompany you to your new lodgings? I would feel more comfortable if I knew it was safe.”
“Yes,” she heard herself say. “That would be very nice.”
