Meg departed from the vicarage later that afternoon, musing on how helping her friends had at least distracted her from her low mood. But the closer she got to home, the more her pesky thoughts intruded on her peace of mind. When she entered the cottage, she was relieved to see that the maid had put out a couple of letters for her on the hallstand.
Untying her bonnet and leaving her cloak in the hallway, she took them through to her cozy living room to read. The subject of the first missive was an uncomfortable reminder that her way of life was inevitably changing. It was from one of her admirers, who she was expecting to call the very next week.
He informed her that due to an unexpected inheritance, he was suddenly retiring somewhere up north rather sooner than anticipated. Meg scanned
