Darcy was glad to get her seated, and it removed one anxiety at least. He really felt like he should get her a drink or something as well, but he was sure she wanted him to read the letter before fussing any further. He sat down beside her, and firstly gave her knee a little squeeze in an tremor to offer comfort before he started to read.
Oh. It was bad. It started bad, and it steadily grew worse. The part directed at him had little to no effect, it was precisely what he would have expected, but the blatant casting off of her daughter because of the choices she had made was horrible.
He took a deep breath, folded the letter in half and placed it down on a side table, fighting against the urge to tear it up or scrunch the paper. “I am sorry,” he said after a moment, turning to her and taking her hands in his own. “I did not expect such a strong reaction,” he admitted. He had known her mother wouldn’t approve, but this was beyond all reason.