Sweet Love of Mine

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Eleven

Since she was here, Emily thought as she took tea with Victoria the following afternoon, she might as well have a go at finding a husband. And seeing as Sebastian had outright refused to aid her in this endeavour, she would have to sort something out for herself. Well, the man had refused to consider her proposal and he didn’t seem much inclined to marry her himself if the comment he had made in the carriage was anything to go by.

“Don’t even think about it.” Indeed. She hadn’t even welcomed the notion that Sebastian could be a viable choice as a husband.

She was now, however, and it was all because of Sophie’s silly little remark. Despite his lofty title, Emily imagined that she’d quite like to marry Sebastian. He was quite nice to her and very handsome, and his sense of humour was rather likable. However, he was Sebastian after all and a renowned rake. On top of that, he clearly did not want to marry her.

Hmmm. It wasn’t supposed to sting, but it did. Was she that unmarriageable that even her ‘brother’, the boy she had grown up with, found her quite detestable as a wife?

She sighed plaintively.

“I’m terribly sorry,” Victoria murmured with a speculative glint in her eye. “I’ve been out of sorts. Were you saying something?”

Emily shook her head and considered the other woman with an assessing look. It had been announced that morning that Victoria was betrothed to Gabriel Sinclair, which made the rest of the other guests’ presences there redundant. The unprecedented engagement was rather a surprise and entirely unexpected, albeit welcome. The change of atmosphere at Hawthorne was tangible, especially with regards to His Grace, Henry Sinclair- Gabriel’s grandfather- who appeared inclined to walk with a spring in his step and a ready whistle from his lips. It was a startling change from an otherwise dictatorial, overbearing man.

Victoria Colton, on the other hand, appeared to have turned positively dreamy. Pronounced unmarriageable, Victoria’s matrimonial state had been dubious before yet here she sat and if Emily did not know any better she’d assume the woman was quite in love. Just yesterday she had fervently denied such a possibility to the group of women at large as they observed the men fishing on the banks of Hawthorne’s lake.

“I did not say anything,” Emily explained. “I merely sighed.”

“Oh, right.” Victoria blinked at her owlishly. “Whatever for?”

Emily hesitated imperceptibly. Their friendship had blossomed into existence a mere two days ago when before she had scarcely paid Victoria Colton any heed at all. She did not find it easy to divulge her melancholy ponderings about a suitable husband to her just yet, or did she? Victoria appeared sincere enough and even went out of her way to befriend her when Georgina Prescott had thrown horrible accusations at her after yesterday’s fiasco. It was to everyone’s relief that Miss Prescott had seen it fit to leave Hawthorne this morning after the announcement of Gabriel and Victoria’s upcoming nuptials.

So Emily made a tentative moue with her fingers from where they were folded in her lap. “Oh, it’s nothing, really. Do go on daydreaming. I won’t interrupt you- I’m sure you have plenty to dream about!”

“Emily, I do believe you are teasing me,” Victoria murmured slyly, giving the woman a narrow look. She set aside her teacup and turned her attention fully to Emily. “I am done with dreaming now. What is bothering you?”

“It’s really nothing. I wouldn’t want to bother you-”

“Rubbish!” Victoria snorted indelicately. “You wouldn’t be bothering me at all. The suddenness of my situation is quite unnerving, is all, and I find myself prone to bouts of… um… distraction. I find I would like to hear something that isn’t at all related to my forthcoming wedding or my future husband. Please, I beg of you, confide in me?”