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“Hawthorne House is my home now,” Emmeline said with a sigh. “I have nowhere else I can go, since my aunt and uncle have disowned me.”
“Do you want to leave Hawthorne House?”
“Not really,” Emmeline admitted. “I enjoy spending time with Oliver’s family. They have been nothing but kind to me.”
Rising, Mary reached down and picked up the stack of gowns. “That is good to hear,” she said. “You deserve to be happy.”
“How are my aunt and uncle faring?”
Mary huffed. “They are furious at you for eloping,” she informed her. “I don’t think I have ever seen Lady Taylor in such a fit of rage before.”
“I imagine my elopement came as a surprise to them.”
“You could say that,” Mary shared. “When I informed them that you weren’t in your room and handed them the letter that you wrote, Lord Taylor threw a vase across the room, shattering it against the wall.”
“Truly?” Emmeline asked. “That doesn’t sound like my uncle at all.”
Mary put the gowns on the bed. “He ordered the coach to be brought around, but he soon realized that he had little chance of stopping you and Lord Oliver from marrying.”
“I hope one day they will understand my reasons for marrying Oliver.”
“Sadly, I don’t think they will.”
Emmeline let out a sigh. “That is a shame, since they are the only family that I have left.”
“That is not entirely true,” Mary pointed out. “You have a whole new family here at Hawthorne House.”
“That is true, and I am grateful for that,” Emmeline acknowledged.
Mary gave her a knowing look. “You don’t sound grateful.”
Glancing over at the door that led to the sitting room, Emmeline said, “I just wish I could trust Oliver.”
“These things take time,” Mary encouraged.
“Do you believe that?”
“I do.”
Emmeline brought a smile to her face. “Then I suppose I just need to be patient.”
Eyeing her curiously, Mary asked, “Do you intend to make this a real marriage between you and Lord Oliver?”
“No,” she declared with a shake of her head. “I can’t change the terms of our agreement now. That wouldn’t be fair to Oliver.”
“But if you could, would you want this to become a true marriage?” Mary prodded.
Emmeline pressed her lips together, then admitted, “I suppose it would be nice.”
“You have developed feelings for Lord Oliver, haven’t you?”
She nodded before she lowered her gaze to her lap. “How could I have done something so foolhardy?”
Mary walked over and sat down next to her on the settee. “I believe it is natural for someone to develop affection for someone that they spend so much time with.”
“But we only just started spending time with one another again.”
“Not only did you know Oliver in your youth, but you were alone in a coach for days as you traveled to Gretna Green and back,” Mary pointed out. “I would imagine you spent most of the time conversing with one another.
