Her smile faltered as she saw the second wave of emotions sweep over his face. Pressing her lips together, Philomena averted her gaze even more before finally getting up from the table to tend to one of the ferns on the window that had been wilting slightly. At his question though, she turned and gave him a wan smile as she shook her head. “The last I heard from her was when she asked me to deliver that right before she left. I offered to give her notice once it’d been put into your possession, but she seemed adamant that…” She had to pause here, not sure her words would do much more to help. “I got the feeling she wanted to tie things up before she left.”
It was out of wanting to not cause Mr. Grimstone even more distress that Phie omitted the part where Miss Crawley gave her a letter to accompany the box before demanding it back, then burning it there on the spot before leaving. But she shifted on her feet, averting her gaze from him a little too much now, picking up her apron and twisting it in her hands.
It was out of wanting to not cause Mr. Grimstone even more distress that Phie omitted the part where Miss Crawley gave her a letter to accompany the box before demanding it back, then burning it there on the spot before leaving. But she shifted on her feet, averting her gaze from him a little too much now, picking up her apron and twisting it in her hands.
![[Image: HqS2LdO.png]](https://i.imgur.com/HqS2LdO.png)