Page 21 of The Elusive Phoebe (The Widows of Lavender Cottage #1)

Every servant in every one of our properties is more than they appear. They are not your jailers, my dear, but your guardians. Each has been carefully chosen, not just for their skills in service, but for their absolute loyalty and their training in... unconventional areas.

Mrs. Whitmore, the housekeeper at Rosemont, was once a governess to the children of a French count—and an invaluable source of intelligence during her years there. She knows seventeen ways to send coded messages through seemingly innocent household arrangements.

Thomas, the head groom, served with distinction in the Navy and can recognize a threat at a hundred yards. The gardens he maintains so beautifully also contain strategic advantages you cannot see—hidden paths, concealed caches of supplies, and sight lines carefully planned for defense.

Even Mary, the young maid who will help you dress, has been trained by the finest ladies' maids in London—and also in the art of detecting and neutralizing various poisons that might be introduced to food or drink.

These people are not just servants; they are your protection. More than that, they are people who have come to care for you personally. The reports they send me speak not just of your safety, but of their genuine affection for you.

Thomas writes that you always thank the stable hands personally, even for small services. Mrs. Whitmore mentions that you've learned the names of all the kitchen staff and inquire about their families. Mary says you never speak harshly, even when frustrated.

They protect you not just because it is their duty, but because you have earned their devotion through your kindness.

If you choose to keep them in your service, they will serve you faithfully for life. If you prefer to make other arrangements, they will understand—but they will also remain watchful from afar, because their loyalty to you now transcends their original orders.

Trust them, my dear. They are your people now.

Your grateful husband, Robert

My Beloved Phoebe,

I wish I could tell you that my death has ended all threats to your safety, but I fear that would be a lie. There are forces at work that my passing may actually have made more dangerous, not less .

The intelligence I gathered over seven years implicated not just Irish revolutionaries and French agents, but English citizens as well.

Some held positions of trust within the government itself.

These men have the most to lose if their treachery becomes known, and they believe I left evidence that could destroy them.

They are wrong—I ensured that such evidence was delivered to the proper authorities before my death—but they do not know this. They will be searching for documents they believe you must possess.

At the same time, the Irish cells I infiltrated are seeking revenge against anyone connected to the intelligence that led to the arrest and execution of their compatriots. They too believe you have access to information—specifically, the identities of Irish informants who helped the Crown.

Both sides want the same thing: what they believe is a master list containing names, locations, financial records, and operational details. They think I would have hidden copies of such a list, and as my widow, they assume you either have it or know where it is.

The truth is more complex. There are documents hidden in our properties—but not the lists they seek.

What I have left for you are insurance policies: evidence that could protect you if anyone ever threatened you because of my work.

Proof of your innocence, records of your isolation during critical periods, testimony from servants who can vouch for your complete ignorance of my activities.

I have also left you something far more valuable than intelligence secrets: the means to disappear completely if you ever feel unsafe. New identities, financial resources they cannot trace, and contacts in several countries who will help you start fresh if needed.

But I pray you will never need such extreme measures. I hope you will be able to live openly and happily in the life I have tried to provide for you.

Be cautious, my dear, but do not live in fear. You are stronger and more resourceful than you know.

Your protector always, Robert

My Dearest, Most Beloved Wife,

If you have read all my previous letters, you now know the truth of our marriage, my work, and the dangers that may yet threaten you. I hope you can find it in your heart to forgive me for the choices I made, even if you cannot understand them.

I want you to know that every day of our separation, I carried your image in my heart. Every mission I completed, every risk I took, every moment of danger I faced was made bearable by the thought of returning to you.

I kept the note I wrote calling you beautiful not out of vanity, but because it represented the moment I stopped thinking of you as an obligation or arrangement and started thinking of you as the center of my world.

I love you, Phoebe. I love your laugh, your stubbornness, your way of tilting your head when you're thinking. I love how you hum when you're happy and how you bite your lip when you're worried. I love your kindness to servants and your fierce protection of those smaller than yourself.

If I could have one more day with you, I would spend it simply sitting in the same room, watching you exist in the world, marveling at the miracle of your presence in my life.

But I cannot have that day, so instead I give you this: complete freedom to choose your own path forward.

If you wish to retire to one of our quiet properties and live in peace, you have the means to do so.

If you wish to enter society and dazzle London with your intelligence and beauty, you have the resources and connections to command any room.

If you wish to travel the world and see wonders I can only dream of, you have the wealth and protection to go anywhere safely.

And if you wish to love again—if there is someone who can make you happy in ways I never could—you have my blessing and my hope for your joy.

Do not let my memory or my choices limit your future. Live, my darling. Live fully and completely and without regret.

I will love you beyond death, beyond time, beyond the boundaries of this world. But my love should not be a chain that binds you—it should be wings that help you soar.

Be happy, my beloved wife. That is all I have ever wanted for you.

Eternally yours, Robert

Phoebe's hands were shaking as she finished the final letter. Tears she had tried to hold back throughout the reading now flowed freely down her cheeks. Archie, who had read some passages aloud when her voice faltered, reached across to offer his handkerchief.

"He loved you," Archie said quietly.

"I think he did," she whispered. "And I... I think I might have learned to love him too, if we'd had time." She wiped her eyes. "He was a good man, wasn't he?"

"I think he was. A man who made difficult choices, but good choices. He protected you the only way he knew how."

Phoebe nodded, then reached for the final document Mr. Hartwell had left—the detailed inventory of her inheritance. "We should finish this. I need to understand the full scope of what he's left me."

Archie picked up the formal document. "Shall I read it?"

"Please."

THE LAST WILL AND TESTAMENT OF ROBERT SMALLING, EARL OF BLACKMOOR

Detailed Inventory of Holdings Bequeathed to Lady Phoebe Smalling

"To my beloved wife, Phoebe, I leave the entirety of my worldly possessions, properties, and financial holdings, with the sincere hope that they will provide her with security, comfort, and the freedom to choose her own path in life."

Principal Residences:

Rosemont Hall, Hampshire

Main estate: 3,000 acres of prime farmland and forest

47-room manor house, completely renovated 1815-1817

Features: Grand ballroom, music room with perfect acoustics, library containing 4,000 volumes, conservatory with exotic plants from six continents

Staff quarters for 30 servants, currently employing 24

Income from tenant farms: ￡2,200 per annum

Special features: Hidden passages connecting major rooms, reinforced cellar suitable for extended habitation, private chapel with secret chamber

Thornfield Manor, Brighton

Seaside cottage with 15 rooms overlooking private beach

Artist's studio with north-facing windows and specialized lighting

Private path to secluded cove, deed includes beach access rights

Modernized kitchen and plumbing, heated by innovative system

Staff of 8, including groundskeepers for the terraced gardens

Special features: Hidden tide cave with provisions, underground passage to main road

Blackmoor House, London

Townhouse in prestigious Mayfair square

22 rooms across four floors plus servant quarters

Features: Ballroom capable of hosting 200 guests, gentleman's study with fireproof safe, lady's sitting room with hidden compartments

Mews house with stabling for 12 horses

Staff of 15 including full kitchen, laundry, and security

Special features: Tunnel connecting to adjacent properties (government safe houses), reinforced windows, hidden armory

Rosecliff Cottage, Bath

Elegant townhouse near the Pump Room

12 rooms with views of the Royal Crescent

Private garden with medicinal herb collection

Staff of 6, including lady's maid trained in herbal remedies

Leased until 1825, option to purchase property permanently

Lakeside Lodge, Lake District

Hunting lodge with 8 rooms, spectacular mountain views

500 acres including lake frontage with private dock

Lodge suitable for entertaining up to 20 guests

Staff of 4 (increased to 12 during hunting season)

Stocked wine cellar, library of outdoor pursuits literature

Investment Properties:

London Commercial Holdings:

Warehouse complex near the Thames: generating ￡800 per annum

Three residential buildings in respectable neighborhoods: ￡650 per annum combined

Share ownership in textile mill (partnership with Lytton Enterprises): profits vary