7
As told to, Emily took all the money she could find and stashed it inside a satchel. She didn't question him. He knew what it was like to support a family; she could only assume he needed her dowry to help him support her as well as his sick mother. As for the jewellery, what woman wouldn't want to have her finest possessions on her at the wedding?
Emily held her candle up to her clothes and frowned. All her clothes reminded her of her parents and how the forced her to wear what they gave her. In disgust, she closed the closet door again and stalked away from it. She would get new dresses with Lord Barkis, but what she did need was a wedding dress.
Emily checked her pocket watch that was sitting on her bed. It was nearly two thirty.
Suddenly, Emily remembered that her mother kept her wedding dress in their large, room like closet. There was a door that led to the closet from the bathroom and her parent's room. She could sneak in through the bathroom and take the dress!
Determined not to be caught, Emily crept silently down the hallway. She left the candle in her room as not to wake her parents.
Once inside the closet, Emily searched for the dress. She could barely see and the fear of her parents being awake still and hearing her caused her hands to shake. If she weren't so determined to marry Barkis, she doubted she'd be able to stand being in such a dangerous position. The punishment that would follow being caught would most definitely be severe.
It was a miracle that she found the dress at all. Gathering it up in her arms, Emily hurried back to her room. It took her a moment to calm her nerves, but once she did, Emily changed out of her summer dress and into her mother's wedding dress. To her delight, the dress fit like a glove. 'It's obviously a sign!' She thought happily.
Examining herself in the mirror, Emily felt for the first time, like a bride. She was no longer the bridesmaid.
Suddenly she was hit with sadness. She would never see her family or friends again. Emily turned to her window and gazed out towards the graveyard. She couldn't see far in the dark, but she could tell it was a rather foggy night. 'My friends... They will be happy for me.'
With that, Emily took the satchel of gold and the jewellery and set off towards the graveyard.
