Emily

Chapter Fifteen

From the moment Mary Smithson stepped foot into the house, Emily knew that she would not like her. And this was only proved over tea, when she had done all she could to flirt with Nate.

At first, Nate had gone along with it and that had infuriated Emily. It had also hurt beyond compare to consider the thought that she wasn't as important to him as he had made her seem. Only a few days ago he'd been ready to marry her and marriage was a lifelong commitment.

Then, much later, it had hit her that he was trying to punish her for her rejection of his proposal. She could not help what had happened but he was clearly bitter about it. There were things that neither of them could give up, and she had made the right choice for both of them. If, a year or so down the line, they began to regret their choice to be together, it would be much worse than never having been together at all.

Fortunately, Nate had stopped flirting with the girl after that. He'd become distant towards her and displayed a complete lack of interest. Unfortunately for Emily, however, Mary Smithson had noticed the glances she and Nate were constantly exchanging and kept shooting Emily the nastiest glares she had ever been on the receiving end of. Needless to say, neither of the two was fond of the other.

It had been three days since Mary's arrival, and the entire household had been flung into preparation for another ball, which would serve as both an informal coming out ball for Allie as well as a ball that would welcome the odious Mary into local society.

It was then revealed that Miss Mary did not come with a ball gown in her possession and that someone would have to take her to the seamstress in the village to be fitted for a new gown.

To Emily's complete displeasure, she was the one who was charged with this unpleasant task. To make matters worse, Nate had also been ordered by his sisters to get out of their way and escort the two ladies to the village. Kit had weaselled his way out of it by saying that he would look after Juliette while Cassandra was busy getting things ready for the ball. Allie had appeared exceptionally pleased at the thought of being free of Mary for a few hours.

Alexandra had also shown Emily the gown she was planning on wearing and had ordered Emily not to allow Mary to get a prettier gown. It was extremely petty of her and Emily secretly loved it, even if she'd appeared slightly disapproving to Allie when she'd first told her.

"Shall we go, then?" Nate asked, clearing his throat as he tried to look anywhere but at Emily. The atmosphere between them had been exceedingly awkward the past week or so and Emily hated it. She missed their conversations and their laughter and the anecdotes they'd shared. She probably knew more about him than he himself did and vice versa, but there was nothing she could do with all of that information now.

It wasn't anyone's fault that things had turned out the way that they had, but Emily couldn't help but blame herself for everything that was happening.

"Yes!" Mary exclaimed with a beam, moving forward to take Nate's arm, but he dodged it before she could, instead choosing to walk in front of both Emily and Mary, leaving them no choice but to walk beside each other. And, when Nate turned around to glance at them and his eyes met Emily's, they shared a long look that did not go unnoticed by Mary, who stepped on Emily's feet and apologised gleefully after.

When the carriage driver opened the door for them, Nate got in first and Mary rushed to take the seat directly beside him, leaving not even an inch of space between them, while Emily sat across from them, rolling her eyes as she did. Nate discreetly attempted to shift closer to the edge of his seat, but Mary followed his movements and stuck just as close as before.

"Don't we usually walk to the village?" Emily wondered aloud, before cursing herself in her mind as she and Nate weren't talking and she'd forgotten entirely about that.