“I should have assumed.”
“On a good note, people came up to congratulate Ellie on her pending nuptials.”
“Is that so?” He leaned back in his chair. “How did Ellie handle that?”
“She responded to each person graciously, just as I knew she would.”
“That pleases me.”
“Thetonmight not act so favorably to her when she calls off the wedding,” his mother said with a pointed look.
“I know, and I already told you that I would marry her.”
“But, do you want to marry Ellie?”
Roswell shifted uncomfortably in his seat. “It wouldn’t be the worst thing,” he replied. “After all, it would be a marriage based on friendship, and there is attraction on my part.”
“Is that what you seek? Friendship?”
“It is more than I deserve from Ellie.”
Harriet sat on the chair in front of the desk. “Why do you say that?”
“I’m afraid I cannot tell you, Mother.”
Her face softened. “Do you want to know what I think on the matter?”
“Do I have a choice?”
“No,” she replied. “You do not.”
“Then proceed,” he said with a wave of his hand.
“I fear that you don’t believe you are worthy of being loved,” she remarked, “which concerns me greatly.”
“It matters not.”
“But it does,” she pressed. “A marriage should be built on friendship, but there can be so much more joy in the union if you would but trust yourself to be vulnerable.”
Roswell frowned. “You don’t know what you are asking of me.”
“I know about your late-night meetings with Ellie in the library, dear,” his mother said. “You have not been as discreet as you thought.”
“Nothing untoward occurred,” he rushed to assure her.
“I know, but you may want to keep your voices down in the hall,” she teased.
Roswell nodded. “Understood.”
His mother smiled. “It pleases me what you are doing for Ellie, but it is time for you to recognize that this marriage is for you, as well.”
“In what way?”
“These past few years, you have been cantankerous and insufferable,” his mother replied. “You are not the man you are supposed to be.”
“I’m sorry that you feel that way,” Roswell grumbled.
“But it all changed when Ellie arrived,” his mother said. “Even though you fought hard to deny it, you changed for the better. In fact, your whole persona changed.”
