Isabella was shocked to say the least, "But you... you were the one who wrote me, Elie.  Don't you remember?  You sent the letter about the lady at the orphanage finally letting you see your birth record." 

It was clear Elie seemed to have no idea what she was talking about.  "Oh my God Elie... I feel horrible.  This... this is probably another cruel game being played by some of my father's enemies.  I'm so sorry."  She threw her arms around Elie.  "You'll always be my sister in every way that matters... I'm just sorry I hurt you with false news.  I promise I'll find whoever sent that letter... I swear it looked JUST LIKE your handwriting!  It came two weeks ago before all the chaos we had here."

She didn't want to dump news of a war on Elie's poor head right now on top of everything else.  Better she NOT know that she'd almost met the reaper twice in as many months.