Awaiting Your Letter Of Severance

[Adelia Lovegood]

May 15th, 1887

Dear Mr. Urquart,

I have only today managed to find a copy of the Witch Weekly issue published yesterday, I suspect my brother may have intercepted my subscription copy, so you must forgive my tardiness in writing.

Firstly, I must apologize for the embarrassment you may endure (and already have endured) as a result of this horrible article. I do not know what you have told your younger children and I don't know how common Witch Weekly subscriptions are at Hogwarts, but I dearly hope they do not suffer for it also.

Secondly, I must assure you that I have really only told a couple very close and trustworthy friends and I cannot imagine they would have betrayed me. Perhaps I am more naive than I give myself credit for, but I still believe very firmly in their being beyond reproach. I can only imagine that it must have been a servant privy to enough information to sell out.

In regards to my broken engagement, it was broken off because Mr. Riley believed I did not love him and I have since had reason to believe he was already infatuated with Mrs. Riley when he broke it off. I did love Mr. Riley, but I thought perhaps my feelings were stronger than they ought to be considering our engagement was an arrangement, so I suppressed them to my own detriment.

As to my late sister, I cannot claim what the article said to be untrue. I consider it to be a great failing of mine as a sister; she was a very free spirit and when she needed an older sister to guide her I was not there for her as I should have been. Would that I could have saved her from dying alone as she did.

That is almost my entire history of shame and scandal for you, although Witch Weekly neglected to mention my broken courtship with Mr. James Herondale. The reason he gave me for parting from me was his long term health condition, but even now I'm unsure if that was the truth.

I shan't blame you at all if you think it best for you and your children to distance yourself, I don't doubt there are plenty of other ladies with no such history tied to them that would make wonderful wives.

Yours Sincerely,
Miss Lovegood

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[Balthazar Urquart]

May 16th, 1887

Miss Lovegood,

I do not read Witch Weekly. Since its earliest publications, I have found it to be silly at best and devious at worst, and so decided it not worth my time in the slightest. Over my tenure as Minister of Magic, I am given to believe they have said a great deal of things about me—both flattering and decidedly less so—making me all the less likely to give their reports much weight.

My sister, however, still subscribes as many ladies do, and it is she who brought the offending article to my attention on the day of its publication. Before I go any further, I will reassure you that I do not for even a moment believe you conspired to magically gain my affections, nor even that you would do so if given the opportunity.

I do not hold you at fault, as the author of this article seems to have done, for what has transpired in your past, for in my own estimation, you are beyond reproach. This extends too to the source of the information in the first—I do not hold you any more accountable than I would myself. This extends also to the actions of your sister, which I had been made aware of long before I first extended you any sort of invitation. Rest assured that this does not dissuade me.

As to my children, I believe the shock of hearing from a third party that their father is pursuing a woman other than their mother was far more damaging than anything that magazine might have published. I am working to repair my own relations with them now, but did take care to exonerate you in so doing.

Sincerely,

B. Urquart

@'Adelia Lovegood'/@'Ursula Black'

  

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[Adelia Lovegood]

May 16th, 1887

Dear Mr. Urquart,

It is very reassuring to know that your opinion of me has not changed for the worse, not that I would think a publication like Witch Weekly could so easily poison your mind. I know that as the Minister your public image must be incredibly important and regardless of the truths or lies in that article, your association with me there cannot have done any good. Hopefully the writers at Witch Weekly have run out of motivation and ammunition.

I cannot imagine how your younger children must be feeling, especially being at Hogwarts where they cannot see you - I wish there was something I could do as I feel terribly guilty as if I had some hand in that article. I did receive a letter regarding it from your eldest daughter yesterday and I hope you do not mind that I took the liberty of encouraging her to write me in future should she wish to. While I am ever so relieved that she didn't take an immediate disliking to me, I fear I may have caused tension between siblings.

Before I finish, I must say how grateful I am for your continued good faith in me, your letter was very heartening. I've grown quite good at letting spiteful gossip roll off my back, but I'm not made of stone (nor should I ever want to be).

Yours Sincerely,
Miss Lovegood

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