The weeks spent with Marcelino and his friends were like one luscious dessert after another – at some point you begin to crave something bitter and salty to remove the sugar from your teeth. Joseph had received some correspondence about business he should attend to and he needed to paint. He felt pregnant with scores of ideas he needed to release. Elizabeth was far less enamoured with returning – she knew she would face a ruined reputation and likely some shunning from the ton. However, she was brave, unrepentant, and a larger part of her felt freed from the constraints of polite society. She’d seen that there were others she’d rather know, more authentic, stripped of false pretence. Perhaps she could find them back home and begin again.
…show more content…
He turned to Henry in the hall. “Henry? Why would she be opposed to the one thing that would solve this for her? I know there’s no one else”. “It may be impertinent…she’s afraid of being dependent on a husband again. By law you’d own her home, be in control of everything she does. Lord Nollings was a libertine. He caroused, gambled and nearly left her destitute. He was not kind”. “I understand regardless there’s no other way forward. I cannot leave her to brave this on her own. I won’t”. Respect and relief shone in Henry’s eyes. “I knew you would not quit the field”. “No Henry, though I feel I have a few hills to conquer” as he eyed the stairs.
---
Elizabeth felt trapped, desperate, like a caged creature wild to run. All the past seemed to be pressing on her all sides. She dropped to her knees by her bed and laid her head on the edge suddenly excessively weak. The darkness was falling fast, fast, fast and she felt paralyzed to stop it. Before she totally succumbed to her old enemy she realized she wasn’t sure she wanted to come back this time, she couldn’t face this pain again. She didn’t hear the pounding on the door, the shout for a key, the servants running to do Joseph’s commands, the door banging open, the gasps of dread when they entered. On the periphery of a mirage some part of her recognized the scent of the man lifting her and placing her on something soft. Then,
He turned to Henry in the hall. “Henry? Why would she be opposed to the one thing that would solve this for her? I know there’s no one else”. “It may be impertinent…she’s afraid of being dependent on a husband again. By law you’d own her home, be in control of everything she does. Lord Nollings was a libertine. He caroused, gambled and nearly left her destitute. He was not kind”. “I understand regardless there’s no other way forward. I cannot leave her to brave this on her own. I won’t”. Respect and relief shone in Henry’s eyes. “I knew you would not quit the field”. “No Henry, though I feel I have a few hills to conquer” as he eyed the stairs.
---
Elizabeth felt trapped, desperate, like a caged creature wild to run. All the past seemed to be pressing on her all sides. She dropped to her knees by her bed and laid her head on the edge suddenly excessively weak. The darkness was falling fast, fast, fast and she felt paralyzed to stop it. Before she totally succumbed to her old enemy she realized she wasn’t sure she wanted to come back this time, she couldn’t face this pain again. She didn’t hear the pounding on the door, the shout for a key, the servants running to do Joseph’s commands, the door banging open, the gasps of dread when they entered. On the periphery of a mirage some part of her recognized the scent of the man lifting her and placing her on something soft. Then,