Chapter 21: What Vordescu Chose Not to Tell Her

The card arrived at Longbourn on a Thursday morning, in an envelope that bore no seal and no return direction, delivered by a boy Cecilia did not recognise — which was itself remarkable, as she recognised most of the boys in Meryton. The handwriting was Van Drecht's: that precise, vertical Dutch script which economised on flourish as deliberately as its author economised on expression.

It was addressed to Miss Hartwell.

Not Miss Cecilia Hartwell, which would have indicated a request for her specifically. Not Miss C. Hartwell, which would have suggested delicacy. Simply Miss Hartwell — which, by the conventions of the neighbourhood, meant the eldest daughter of the house, which was Lydia.