“That is quite bold.”
Emma smiled. “My mother is just that,” she said. “I suppose it is one of the things I love most about her.”
Ellie put the book down next to her on the settee. “My mother is much more reserved, but no less strong.”
“I wish I could meet your mother,” Emma remarked. “Do you suppose she will visit you this Season?”
She shook her head. “I doubt it. It is rather expensive to ride on the mail coach to Town.”
“What if we were to send a coach?”
Ellie pressed her lips together in thought, then said, “I doubt she would come. She is adamant about staying in Maidstone.”
“May I ask why?”
Rising, she walked over to the bed and sat down next to Emma. “The new Lord Worthington is the most despicable of men, and he has decided that he will marry me.”
“That is awful.”
“I have refused him, multiple times, but he has continually made our lives increasingly difficult,” she shared. “That is why my mother sent me here.”
“I understand.”
“Frankly, marrying well is my only option,” Ellie said. “By doing so, I can save my mother from Lord Worthington’s evil clutches.”
“Surely, he can’t be evil.”
“After one of my rejections, our beloved dog disappeared.”
Emma’s eyes grew wide. “You don’t think he harmed the dog?”
Ellie gave a half-shrug. “It wouldn’t surprise me, but he did claim that he had nothing to do with it.”
“Well, we must get your mother out of there,” Emma said, jumping from the bed. “I will go speak to my mother at once.”
Ellie rose as well. “You must promise me that you won’t say anything to anyone about what we discussed.”
“Why is that?” she asked. “We are in a position to help.”
“You must understand that Lord Worthington controls her jointure,” Ellie explained. “Furthermore, he has no idea where I am right now, and my mother wants to keep it that way.”
“You just want me to stand by and do nothing?”
Ellie bobbed her head. “I know I am asking a great deal from you, but the only way out of my current situation is to marry. And quickly.”
“Then I shall help you with that.”
“You will?”
Emma smiled. “I am currently on my fourth season,” she said. “I know a thing or two about the marriage mart.”
“Have you ever had a serious suitor?”
“I thought I did last Season,” Emma replied, “but it turned out that his heart had already been claimed by another.”
“I am sorry to hear that.”
“Don’t be,” Emma replied. “I suspected that was the case all along, but a part of me had been hanging on to hope.”
