Dearest Elizabeth

Dear Liz, 

I can’t believe you’re alive and well!  And that you ran off to be with Will, I had no idea! You’re not who everyone thought you were. You’re not who I thought you were. This is my sister here, Elizabeth Holland, society’s treasure, who faked a death to be with her true love, a coachman.  It sounds like one of the novels I would read.

I can’t even begin to explain how devastated I was when I heard about your death. You’re my sister, my perfect sister.  Always there to please others, always doing what was best for your family and your reputation.  At first I thought it was my fault that you were dead.  I found out that you knew about Henry and me.  I was so overwhelmed with guilt. Thank you for understanding that I love Henry.  I love him so much Liz and I hope he still loves me.  I hope he doesn’t end our romance because he feels guilty for your death, as I did.  How could I live without him, he’s all I have left.      

But Liz, how could you desert us? How could you desert me? With father already gone, you left me behind with mother and her expectations for me to marry well. And you know, I can’t do it Liz. The one man I would marry  is mourning your death. We still have no money. Mother has sold everything, including your things and father’s things. Society knows about our financial state.  Soon everyone will know we are destitute. They are probably putting together the pieces about your engagement to Henry.

Currently your best friend Penelope Hayes has made quite an impression in society. You should have seen the performance she staged after your death. Always crying or something about how much she missed you and how young you were and what about Henry and this and that. I saw right through it. I knew she was a fake and was behind your disappearance for her own selfish little desires. Now she wants Henry. My Henry!  I won’t let that happen Liz.  I will put that Penelope in her place before she even tries to lay a gloved finger on him.

Please Liz, forgive me for seeming angry, I’m not. I’m so glad you’re alive and I wasn’t responsible for your death. I’m glad you’re in love. I appreciate your trusting me with your secret. I know we are different and there are things that I do that you don’t approve of.  There are things that you do that I think are amusing as well.  But we are sisters and always will share a bond. So I thank you for telling me your secret and in exchange I will keep you up to date on what is happening here.

So I have to ask you something Liz. I want your advice for once. I don’t know what to do. I don’t know how to get our family out of this financial disaster. I don’t want mother to be upset. I don’t want us to be even poorer. But I don’t want to marry some rich snobby bachelor. I want to marry Henry. So I am asking you, the girl who always knew the right thing to do, or so I thought, to help me, the girl who never cared about the right thing to do.  She needs you now, more then ever.

                                                                        Your loving sister,

                                                                        Diana

This is a fictional letter I created between two characters in The Luxe series book Rumors. Diana writes back to her older sister Elizabeth after she learns that she faked her death. Diana is the only person who knows that Elizabeth is alive and why she had to run away.  I think Diana would have mixed emotions about what Elizabeth did.  I imagine that Diana would be relieved that Elizabeth is alive and that she didn’t cause Elizabeth’s death.  But Diana would also be upset and feel a little abandoned by Elizabeth. Elizabeth left Diana alone, with their depressed mother, and poor. The only hope for her family requires her to marry a rich man. Diana probably would feel stuck and would want Elizabeth’s advice on how she can help her family financially and still marry Henry, her true love. Diana and Elizabeth have different personalities and didn’t always get along. Diana is honest and to the point. She’s real and would tell Elizabeth that she’s upset and in need of her help. Diana wouldn’t want the responsibility of her family. She would want to do what’s good for her and marry Henry.