Sighing, I shake my hair out of its bun, massaging my scalp. I join Mary in the parlour, slumping into the armchair and resting my feet onto the armchair.

Mary is busy knitting away in candlelight – the daylight is fading and another night will soon be upon us.

"How was work, dear?" Mary's eyes do not waver from her handiwork, her concentration fierce.

"Busy." I sigh, letting my head fall back and my eyes close. "Lady Arlington is due some visitors. Relatives from her husband's side of the family, so the whole house needed to be stripped and cleaned. No one was spared, not even the porters."

"I remember those days well." Mary smiles. "Your mother would have me running around like a headless chicken. There would be servants running to and fro, someone would be polishing the silverware, someone would be pressing the bedlinen, someone would be wiping the finest china clean. I detested it, but I also loved it."

"Do you miss that? Being the head of so many handmaids and footmen?"

"Honestly, no. You and Ella alone are more than a match for all the maids and servants your mother employed."

I chuckle quietly.

The door thuds open, breaking the serenity of the moment. Ella bounds in, dashing and jumping into my lap, throwing all her weight onto me.

"Ooof! Hello, my little elephant." I giggle, tickling Ella. She squeals in response, her eyes squeezed shut, squirming in my lap and kicking her legs out.

Wheezing, Ella manages to call out, "Truce. Mummy, I call a truce! Please!"

I stop tickling her and press a kiss to her forehead. "Okay, my dear, you win. Truce it is. Have you had a good day today?"

"We had so much fun, Mummy! We went for a walk, we went to the square, we had a fancy lunch, too!"

"Wow, Ella, that sounds lovely! Did you thank Mister Damon?"

Ella nods fervently and looks back to an approaching figure. I look up to see Damon languidly closing the door behind him, his usually neat hair slightly dishevelled, a strand falling over his eyes.

He takes the chair beside Mary's, glancing down at her knitting as she gives him a warm smile.

"Ella has an energy level unmatched by any other child I have ever met." Damon chuckles, bringing his feet up to rest on the other side of my ottoman.

Our toes are almost touching.

Ella grins. "Mummy, I made Mister Damon run from the bottom of the hill all the way home!"

"Oh, is that why it took him so long to get here?" Mary sniggers. "Damon, dear, would you like some water?"

"Mary, it is quite alright, I would like to think I am athletic enough to keep up with a six-year-old!" Damon straightens in his chair slightly, his competitive side emerging.

I fight back a laugh, cuddling Ella closer to me. "Are you sure, Damon? You appearing to be perspiring a little. Your breathing is heavier than usual, too."

"Mister Damon, I won!" Ella titters with glee. "I won and you lost. Mummy, I was sooooo much faster than Mister Damon. I was like a horse and Mister Damon was a little tiny snail."

"Yes, yes, poke fun of me to your heart's desire, little lady. I let you win." Damon leans forward to tickle Ella's chin.

"No, I won because you are slow!" Ella sticks her tongue out at Damon, crossing her eyes.

Mary and I burst into laughter. Damon has always been competitive and it seems he has met his match in his daughter.

Attempting to defuse the situation, Mary stands, "Right. In light of Ella's triumphant victory, I propose we all eat a hearty meal. Today, I have made a house special – chicken pie."

"My favourite!" Ella and Damon chime in simultaneously. Damon looks at Ella in shock.

"Wow, Mister Damon, your favourite is my favourite!" Ella giggles.

Damon composes himself and stands, smiling. "Well, then, I suppose we'd better tuck in!"

***

The next morning, I am standing behind Ella as she plays with her dolls, braiding her chocolate hair into a crown braid.

"Mummy?" Ella calls.

"Yes, darling."

"Mister Damon is so nice to me. How long will he stay?"

"Well, Ella, I am not entirely sure. I think, once his business here is over, he will return to his home." I say, my stomach flipping at the thought of being without Damon once more. Even though I have tried so hard not to, I have become accustomed to his presence. When he leaves, my soul will break all over again.

"When will he come back after that?"

"I am not sure that he will, Ella."

"Mummy, I will miss him when he leaves." Ella's voice catches. I can feel the tears that she is holding back.

Finishing the braid, I walk around the bed to kneel before her. "Ella, let me tell you something, my darling. In this world, we will meet people who are so precious to us. We find so many people we love and cannot imagine a day without. What you must remember is, sometimes they cannot stay forever. Sometimes, they must leave and we must let them, even though it hurts."

"Could we not ask them to stay?" Ella blinks at me, her eyes watery, brimming with innocence and a pain that she should not know at this tender age.

"We could, but it would not change anything. Everybody has their own journey to make. Do you know who will stay with you forever?"

Ella shakes her head silently, her fingers playing with the neckline of my dress.

"I will. I promise, your Mummy will always be right next you."

Ella breaks into a smile, her tears receding. "I will be next to you too, Mummy. I love you."

"I love you too, sweetheart." I say, pulling her into my arms and resting the side of my head against hers, breathing in her fresh scent.

This is home – not a building or a village, but my daughter. This tiny human who was born from me, who I have taught to walk and speak and curtsy, she is my home. She is all that matters. Mary said I should fight for her. What she has failed to see is that I have been fighting all along, just for Ella. I have fought the swelling darkness that threatened to drown me, I have fought the fear of being alone, I have fought the all-consuming fog of loss and for now, I have won. I have found solace right here, in the presence of my little angel. Damon leaving may push me further into the murky depths of darkness, but the little soul holding me right now will be the one to pull me out.

Pulling back, I press a kiss to each cheek. "Mummy will always be with you."

"I know, Mummy." Ella returns my kisses and then takes hold of my hands, "Come along now. Let us have breakfast."

Breakfast is bread rolls and some eggs that one of the farmers nearby kindly brought to the house. Ella eats heartily, despite having had three slices of pie last night. I suspect she was trying to have more than Damon, who positively inhaled four and a half slices. I wonder how long it has been since he has had his treasured chicken pie. Even after our marriage, he preferred the pies made by Mary.

Damon arrives with Mary soon after breakfast, carrying two baskets laden with groceries.

"I have bought some shopping – the stall vendors were saying there may be disruptions next week that may result in them not being able to come to the square. I have double of everything."

"Which makes it doubly heavy." Damon wheezes, heaving the baskets on to the table where Mary instantly begins rummaging through them, organising the groceries to their relevant places in the kitchen and pantry.

"There are some bread rolls and eggs, if you would like some." I offer, as I feed Ella a bite of bread.

"Thank you, but I ate at the Lodge before coming. How is my favourite little lady this morning?"

Ella gives Damon a toothy grin distorted by a mouthful of bread, "Very well, thank you!"

"Ella!" I chide, wiping the corners of her mouth. "How many times must you be told not to speak with a mouthful of food?"

Ella grins, gazing at me with innocence. She is the master of avoiding punishments.

Rolling my eyes, I scoff. "Very soon, you will be too old to shoot your mother looks and escape discipline."

"When that does happen, it means you are simply old enough to run and find a hiding spot." Damon interjects, chuckling.

I cannot help but smirk – memories of my own childhood doing the same spring to mind. I would run through the house and garden, trying desperately to escape my mother's stern gaze and firm grip. Often times, Damon would be by my side, his hand in mine as he helped me to run.

"Mummy says that even if I am in trouble, I must not run from her. She is too old to keep up." Eloise says, blinking her lashes whilst reaching for more bread rolls.

Damon splutters into laughter, his eyes warm with happiness. Even Mary giggles from the pantry. Ella beams at the reaction she has received and titters along with them. I smile, my soul singing with delight at this small, mundane moment. For any outsider, we would appear just like any other family. A mother, a father, a daughter and their nurse – just like any normal person. How I long to be just another family, how I long for Damon to be mine like he was before, without the threat of any repercussions. How beautiful my life would become, if only he and I were together once more.

Taking a deep breath, I compose myself. I must not let my wandering thoughts consume these happy moments, for when Damon is gone, I want to look upon them fondly. I must enjoy this, I must enjoy these brief moments where Damon, Ella and I are a complete family. Goodness knows that I have dreamt of them all too often.

After Ella finishes breakfast, she requests Mary to bathe her this morning. Mary is all too happy to oblige despite my protests and they both leave the kitchen hand in hand.

I turn to Damon, who is still chuckling at his daughter's antics.

"Thank you." He says, turning to me.

"Thank you? Whatever for?"

"For raising her so beautifully." Damon leans forward, elbows on the table, chin resting on the heel of his palm. "She is an asset to you and the proof of your good character. She is wonderful and graceful and rambunctious. She is everything that I could ever hope for my child to be, everything that I had dreamed our child would be."

"I blame Mary for the rambunctious part." I chuckle. "She nursed myself and Ella and both of us were terribly naughty children."

"Well, some of your wild nature was down to me, too." Damon laughs. "I was a terrible influence."

"Yes, you certainly did what you could to cause riots." I agree, my mind wandering down forgotten roads to a childhood filled with mischief and laughter.

"Eloise, I know that for the past month or so, it has been difficult for the two of us to adjust to each other again. I am aware that at times, I have not been... the best man that I know I can be. I apologise for that. I can be foolish at times, so please forgive me. Saying that, whilst I am here, I want for things between us to run smoothly, for Ella's sake. That can only happen if we are not at loggerheads, so, would you like to be friends?"

My gaze rises from the table to see Damon's outstretched hand, waiting for me to place my palm in his hold. A truce is being called, he is relinquishing all grudges and all ill-feeling towards me for the sake of our daughter. Maybe Damon has not changed as much as I perceived him to have. Maybe, underneath the hardened exterior, he is the Damon I remember.

I raise my hand, grasping his firmly and shaking it, ignoring the warmth in my cheeks as our hands touch. "Friends."

Damon beams, his eyes sparkling. "Thank you, Eloise. This really means a lot to me."

"That is okay. You are right – our relationship has an impact on your interactions with Ella. I mustn't be so selfish as to affect that. I wish for both of you to have the best experiences together, so you may cherish those memories."

"I think it is important that the memories we make are not just for me and Ella, but for you too. You are her mother and I am sure that you have longed to see her have a father figure in her life. From my perspective, Ella should not just have memories of the two of us separately, but together too."

"After everything, you wish to include me?" I ask Damon, my eyes wet with emotion, tears heavy with guilt threatening to spill over and run down my face.

"Eloise, did we not just agree to be friends?" Damon smiles, cocking his head to one side. "Now, we must put our past to one side for our daughter."

I nod in response, wiping away the tears in my eyes.

And so, the rest of the day is undoubtedly the best day I have had in over five years. Just like he said we would, Damon and I make memories; we take Ella for a walk and she holds onto both our hands the whole way, we have dinner at the eatery in Rawtenstall Lodgings, we visit Mary's cottage and aid her in cleaning.

It is a normal day, which is all I have ever wanted.

A normal day, living as a normal family. Just the three of us.