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A soft knock at the door drew her attention. "Come in!" she called, expecting Sarah with more dress boxes from the modiste.

Instead, Peter's golden curls peeked around the door. "Lydia? Are you very busy?"

"Never too busy for you, darling." She smiled, noting the slight droop of his shoulders. "Come help me choose which gowns to take. Mug's taste runs rather heavily to anything with ribbons he can chew."

Peter shuffled into the room, settling on the edge of her bed beside Mug. The little dog immediately rolled over for belly rubs, making the boy smile despite his obvious melancholy.

"I wish I could come with you," he said finally, his fingers buried in Mug's fur. "I've never been to London before."

Lydia's heart ached at the wistfulness in his voice. Setting aside a blue silk gown, she moved to sit beside him. "I know, darling. I wish you could come too. But it's only for a few days, and I promise to bring you back something special."

"Really?" Peter perked up slightly. "Like what?"

"Hmm." Lydia tapped her chin thoughtfully. "Perhaps a new sketch book? I know an excellent shop that carries the finest drawing papers. And maybe... oh, I don't know... a box of those chocolate truffles you've been dreaming about since Thomas mentioned them?"

A real smile broke across Peter's face. "The ones with the orange filling?"

"Those very ones. And," she added conspiratorially, "I promise to work on convincing your father to take you with us next time. After all, a future duke should know his way around society, shouldn't he?"

"Do you really think he'd agree?"

"Leave that to me," Lydia winked. "I can be very persuasive when I want to be."

Peter giggled, then sobered slightly. "Will you... will you tell me what it's like? When you get back?"

"Every detail," Lydia promised. "In fact, why don't I tell you about my first ball? It was quite the disaster, actually. I managed to trip over my own feet and nearly pulled down an entire table of refreshments!"

"You didn't!" Peter's eyes widened with delight.

"Oh, but I did! My sisters never let me forget it. Jane still brings it up at every family gathering." Lydia smiled at the memory. "Speaking of which, would you like to meet them sometime? I'm sure they'd love to know their new nephew."

"Really?" Peter sat up straighter. "What are they like?"

Lydia settled back against her pillows, drawing Peter close. "Well, there's Marian – she's the sensible one, always trying to keep the rest of us out of trouble. Though she did once convince us all to climb the apple tree in our nightgowns because she was certain she'd seen fairies in the highest branches."

Peter laughed, snuggling closer. "Did you find any?"

"No, but we did find an extremely angry mother when she discovered us all covered in bark stains at breakfast! Thenthere's Jane – oh, she's the mischievous one. Always planning some adventure or another. Once, she decided we should start a secret society in the attic..."

"What kind of secret society?"

"The Midnight Marauders, we called ourselves. Very dramatic. We had passwords and everything. Mother nearly had apoplexy when she found our coded messages hidden in her best tea service!"

"What was the password?" Peter asked eagerly.

Lydia lowered her voice to a whisper. "'Prudence's porridge is poisonous!' Though don't tell your grandmother I told you that. She's still quite proud of her porridge-making abilities."

They both dissolved into giggles, Mug joining in with excited yips.

"And Diana," Lydia continued once they'd caught their breath, "she's the youngest. Sweet as sugar but twice as sticky when she wants something. She once convinced the cook that Queen Victoria herself was coming to tea, just so she could have extra biscuits!"

"Did it work?"

"For about ten minutes – until Mother discovered the kitchen in complete chaos and poor Cook having hysterics over the state of her best china!"

Peter's laughter faded into a thoughtful expression. "It must have been wonderful, having sisters to play with."

Lydia hugged him closer, sensing the shift in his mood. "It was. Though I imagine you would have given them all a run for their money with your pirate adventures!"