Miss Orléans / Arthur Morgan x OC

23: Failure

Heaving, Lilia grabbed the glass of water that Charles held out to her and drank it greedily as it provided her relief from her scorching throat. Slamming the cup down once the water was all drunken up, she breathed heavily, whipping her mouth dry, trying to regain herself after another coughing fit, "Where's Beth?" She managed to breath out as she stood up.

"She's in her studies I think, hasn't left it since morning. Abigail and Thomas took the kids out for some reason," Charles went to refill the glass of water but stopped as Lilia slumped on her chair, a defeated look on her face, "Is something wrong?"

Lilia didn't reply at first, but after a few moments went by, she slowly stood up, "Nothing, come with me to see Beth."

Charles didn't say anything, but followed Lilia towards Elizabeth's office, exchanging no words as there was no need to.

Stopping at the door to her studies, Lilia knocked loudly on the door and they heard something heavy drop on the floor, before a moment of silence passed when Elizabeth finally spoke up, "Who is it?" Her voice was shaky, almost as if she was being held at gunpoint before the two heard her scramming to pick up whatever she had dropped.

"Its Lilia and Charles, can we come in?" Lilia asked, eyesbrows furrowed in slight concern, "You're been stuck in here all day, your kids are with Thomas. He didnt tell me where they were goin."

Suddenly the door swung open, revealing as disgruntled Elizabeth, who seemed as if she saw a ghost while gesturing for Charles and Lilia to enter the room. They were slightly stunned at the mess of the room, papers were scattered across her desk and coffee tables, several chests and boxes were shoved into the corner of her room and most of her books were no longer on the shelf, but seemingly tossed carelessly on the floor. The only thing that remained in place was the portrait of her mother.

Shutting the door behind the two, Elizabeth scurried to her desk, looking through the mess of the paper, "I've just been trying to sort things out is all," She muttered. Soon her face grew into a scowl as she could not find anything she was looking for and moved onto one of the many books still left on the shelves. She picked up a book, skimmed over the pages, before throwing it on the floor and repeated this action several times, "Do you need something?

"What in the hell is wrong with you?" Lilia asked, picking up the latest book that meet the floor and examining the room, "This whole place looks like a wild bear paid you a visit, just what are you looking for?"

"A letter."

"What letter is so damn important for you to destroy your office?"

"A letter to Mr. Young, the man who ran the gang my mother was previously part of. He's still alive and I heard he was in California. I found one of my mothers journals and she said something about a letter she never sent to Young," giving up on the books, Elizabeth moved to one of the chest and opened it, before dumping out several random things in it, "It was because Young sent her a letter about him settling down in London, with a few members of the old gang and doing honest work, not work of an Outlaw. He wanted my mother to come visit him, and my mother wrote something to him. About me, that's all she said in her letters."

"Why is it so damn important that you find this letter? You planning to visit Mr. Young."

"No, I'm sending my children there, along with a few others. After they escape to California, I want them to go to London, far away from this place. It's like a restart on life, they'll be safe."

Overcome by confusion, Lilia grabbed Elizabeth, stopping her from emptying out any more chests. Making the women standstill, she stared hard into her eyes, "What the hell are you talking about?"