After Lord Barkis retreated back inside, Emily found herself to be quite smitten. How is it that she could feel so charmed by such a simple conversation with a man she knew nothing about? She felt like one of those ladies in the fairy tales Miss Gail had told her about when she was but a mere child.
A handsome prince rescues a damsel in distress and they end up in wedlock without knowing each others last names. She was no damsel and this certainly was no fairy tale. In fact, quite the opposite. Despite Emily's curiosity about what the ball had in store, the thought of an arranged marriage still made her flinch.
She stood from her seat and walked back inside. She was shocked to find the ball room empty, plates still full of decadent desserts and trays of roast left untouched. Miss Gail had already started to clean up the strewn about champagne glasses and the fine china. Through the ballroom doors ahead of her, she saw Alfred ushering out the last of the guests. Emily lifted the hem of her skirt and swiftly walked to find her parents.
They were both standing off to the side of the entryway, immersed in a quiet discussion amongst themselves. "Mother? Father?," Emily said, slightly out of breath. "Where has everyone gone?"
"Your father and I feel confident we've found you a reasonable suitor." Her mothers eyes danced between Emily and her father, almost as if she wasn't as sure as she seemed. "He's not one we expected to find but he's quite a wealthy man and his family owns one of the largest coal mining companies in the nearest city."
"Wait," Emily said, confused. "You mean he's not from this town?"
Her father answered quickly, obviously annoyed by her questions. "Correct. Don't act so shocked. It's not really your decision now, is it?" Emily felt her skin warm with frustration. "You will meet him soon enough." Her father took her mother by the waist and led her away, Emily left alone in the foyer, mind rushing with possibilities.
Who was the man? How old was he? What made him so special that they chose an out of town bachelor to take her hand? Then her mind flashed to an image of the man in the garden. He said he was staying at the inn, hence implying that he was from out of town, had he not? She once again felt her cheeks flush. She practically danced up the staircase to her room to get changed into her night gown.
As she sat in her vanity, brushing out her hair, Miss Gail appeared beside her. "Are you ready for bed, dear? Church is in the morning and you know how your mother hates it so when you doddle." Emily nodded.
After she climbed into bed, Miss Gail started her nightly ritual of tucking her in. "Miss Gail," Emily asked as her eyelids started to feel heavy. "Do you believe in love at first sight?"
Miss Gail took a deep breath. "I don't particularly think it impossible, but I'd consider it rare to say the least."
Emily let out a sleepy "oh," and drifted off to sleep.
The next morning, Miss Gail helped Emily into her Sunday best. Todays was a royal blue gown with elaborate lace along the hems. A hat that sat slightly lilted, bringing attention to her eyes. She put a little rouge on her cheeks to highlight her natural flush. Then she went downstairs and met her parents at the carriage.
The short journey to the church, they rode in silence, no one knowing what to say to the other. Although this wasn't a rare occurrence, this time the silence screamed with Emily's anxiety, for she knew not what her future held. At any moment now, she could be married. Most nerve racking of all, shortly after the ceremony, she was to partake in coitus with her new husband. A complete stranger. This wasn't odd to anyone else?
When the carriage approached the church, the coachman halted the horses and got down from his seat to open the door. "Milady," he said respectfully, signaling to Emily she could exit. She stepped down in front of the white building.
It was a simple church. Not many more rooms than the sanctuary and the priests quarters, barely over a story high. However the high walls and the sharp steeple made you feel so small.
Emily saw a couple sisters she had gone to school with, neither of whom she cared for and they cared even less for her. Emily always assumed it was because of how boys would look at her and not at them, not that they were ugly.
They were the Taylor twins. Quinn and Delilah, whose beauty could only be matched by Emily's own. Their blonde ringlets sparkled in the morning sun like freshly laid snow in the winter moonlight. The glare of their eyes just as cold, their brown irises already looking Emily up and down. They walked in sync as always, their pinkies locked and their free hands holding up the hems of their consistently matching outfits so they would not drag on the ground. They disappeared into the church as the bell tolled, signaling that service would begin soon.
Emily made her way inside with her parents and they took their usual seats in the cherry stained pews, naturally just a few rows from the altar. What wasn't so usual is that the Taylor twins sat behind them today. The priest entered from a door to the left in the front of the sanctuary and began his opening prayers as the congregation all stood in unison. Emily bowed her head and closed her eyes, hands clasped at her waist, trying to focus on what he was saying. However the twins' whispers seemed to find Emily's ears.
"Do you think its true?" Emily recognized Quinn's nasally tone anywhere.
"I don't know," responded Delilah, her voice matching Quinn's, barely above a whisper. "I just feel bad for the poor man who has to marry someone like her."
Quinn snickered. "Any news on who it is yet?"
"Unfortunately, no." Delilah paused. "I heard it's someone from out of town. From the city!"
Emily, sick of being gossiped about, opened her eyes and went to turn. She suddenly felt her mothers hand grasp hers. Emily's eyes darted to her mother, who's eyes were stern, yet sympathetic. It was clear she had heard it all as well. Emily granted her mothers silent wish and kept facing forward, until Quinn said one last thing.
"I wonder how he'll feel when he finds out he's marrying a whore!"
Emily could hardly stop herself as she whipped around, the centrifugal force nearly knocking her hat of her head. 'I BEG YOUR PARDON!"
The twins gasps thundered over the awkward silence. Emily looked around, suddenly feeling embarrassed as everyone's gaze snapped to her. She looked back and the priest was also staring, annoyed by the interrupting of the prayer. Her father looked at her with angry disappointment. Emily saw the twins smirk before she turned back around trying to act as if nothing had happened. She raised an apologetic hand up to the priest and he continued.
Later, upon returning home, her parents rushed her from the carriage to their study. Her father practically forced her into the chair opposite his and then he sat, her mother taking her usual place to his right, with her left hand on his shoulder. he looked at her with fury for what felt like forever.
"How dare you embarrass us in public! Yelling is far from lady like and does no favors for the Carpenter reputation!" He huffed and her mothers grip on his shoulder slightly tightened, a small effort to soothe him.
Emily's eyes filled with tears. "Father, you didn't hear what they were saying! They said horrid things!"
He held up his hand, stopping her explanation in its tracks. "I don't care what they were saying! You do not yell at all, least of all in service!"
"Father, they were saying I had sex with people for money!" Emily was sobbing at this point. Her father leaned forward, voice still firm but at least it was at a civil volume.
"I don't care if the devil himself were there calling you a whore. Think about how your actions affect this family in the future." He glanced at her mother before leaving the study.
Emily's mother took the seat next to her, her perfume wafting from her gown. "Dear," she started, "I'm sorry you had to hear the way those girls spoke about you. I was hoping you'd never have to find out."
"Find out what?" Emily responded through sniffles.
Her mother grabbed her hand gently before walking to a side table to grab a handkerchief. "Someone started a rumor, and we know not whom." She walked back to Emily, handing her the handkerchief before walking to face the marble fireplace. "You are the only girl your age in town who isn't married, even those vile twins were married one year ago. They all have husbands who support them. It isn't common for parents to support their children this long." She looked over at Emily, her eyes gleaming with empathetic tears of their own. She reclaimed her seat. "Your father first overheard about it from his employees. They were talking outside about his daughter who lives off of 'daddy's money', then it turned to the money of a stranger, then money from several." She paused, waiting for Emily to understand what she was implying.
Emily wiped her eyes with her handkerchief and wiped her running nose. "Well thats absurd! I would never!"
"No, no, no," Her mother responded rapidly. "Of course you wouldn't. Your father and I know better. However, his investors do not. They have threatened to pull their funding from his company. It would ruin us."
Emily felt her sorrow turn to anger. "So pushing me off onto some man is part of an elaborate plan to keep our money and restore our family's reputation, is it?"
Her mother just looked at her in silence, evidently not having the nerve to lie. Emily's eyes filled once again with tears out of frustration. "I'm so happy your 'reputation and fortune' take priority over your only child's happiness."
She stormed from the study and up to her room, throwing herself onto her bed where she sobbed uncontrollably into her pillow for hours. Once the tears subsided, she didn't get up. Not to eat lunch, not for the dinner bell, not for Miss Gail's knocks, and not even to get changed for bed. She just lay there, staring at the wall.
Bugger this, Emily thought. She got up, grabbed her cloak from its designated hook and slipped out of her bedroom and down the stairs. She turned the lock on the front door and slowly opened it so it wouldn't creak. Shutting the door behind her, she wandered off into the night.
