Prologue - Wedding Day

"Remind me again, why are you forcing our only son and your heir to wait at the end of the aisle for that horrible American? Because I still haven't understood your reasoning."

"Because she's got the money we need."

"But why couldn't Robert just marry an English heiress? Preferably one from the aristocracy? Or at least a gentleman's daughter?"

"Because this isn't a Jane Austen novel. It's real life."

"Yes, it is real life. And you are forcing our son into a marriage to a woman he doesn't love, who doesn't love him and who is little prepared to follow in my footsteps."

"Violet, we've been through this so many times. We need the money. And Cora is not as unsuitable as you think. They like each other, they've become friends."

"That is not enough in a marriage and you know that."

"Yes, I do."

"Why not let him marry for love? He could have fallen in love with the right woman."

"Violet, just because we fell in love with the right person at the right time doesn't mean that that has to happen to our children. And I didn't have to marry money."

"So you would not have picked me if you had needed money."

"I am not sure."

"That means no. Well thank you very much."

"Don't be like that. Rosamund has married the man she loves and you don't agree with him either."

"No, I don't. Marmaduke is not from an old family. And before you ask 'What does it matter?' It matters because it does. Do you think our parents' would have let us gotten married if we hadn't been from the same social circle?"

"I don't think so, but that was different. No, don't argue. We have to go to church in a few minutes."

"Yes. To watch our 18 year old son be tied to a woman he doesn't care about."

"He cares about her. Just not as much as you would wish."

"I wish that he didn't care about her at all, because she is all wrong for him. And he is still so young. He only turned 18 seven months ago."

"Yes. And we both know that we should count our lucky stars that he turned 18 at all. Because if he hadn't, there would have been no way to save this estate."

"You talk about him as if he was only the means to an end. As if saving the estate was the only reason you wanted Robert to turn 18. As if it hadn't mattered to you if he had died at two, or seven, or 12 or 16 if we had had another son."

"That is uncalled for. You know how much I prayed for his survival every time he was so sick. And you know I didn't pray for it because I saw him as the means to an end. I wanted him to survive because I love him."

"And yet you are forcing him into this marriage. He had such a difficult childhood. And now you are making his adult life just as miserable."

"I won't discuss this anymore. We have to go."