The Earl of Arundel by Angela Johnson

Author:Angela Johnson
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 2

T he weather in northern England was cold and a bit breezy. Miss Emma Parker loved taking advantage of the cool air during the end of spring and opening days of summer. She sat in the parlor by an open window with her mother, two brothers, and sister. Their father was expected to arrive at some point in the evening. He had business in Lincolnshire and had been gone for a fortnight. She enjoyed sitting in a seat near the window so she could look out at the trees and flowers surrounding Springhill Abby. She sat entertaining herself with a book of Shakespeare’s sonnets.

Not for the first time, Emma read Sonnet 116 and wondered what Shakespeare must have been thinking when he wrote the beautiful lines of love. As a young lady of eighteen, she had attended her first season in London the previous year. Her parents hoped her older sister would marry before Emma entered society, but after Anne’s third season she was still unmarried.

Due to her inexperience with love, Emma often imagined finding her future husband. The daydream included him walking toward her across a ballroom and asking her father if he could be introduced. The gentleman would then tell Emma he had dreamed of her his entire life, and it would be love at first sight.

Her mother, father, and brothers would think she was silly if she told them her dream. But Anne listened and for a while told Emma to keep dreaming of her handsome gentleman, for Anne had not found many gentlemen in London. The previous season Anne had a near engagement to Mr. Christian Bennett, but before an offer of marriage arrived, Mr. Bennett left London and didn’t return for the rest of the season. Anne returned to Springhill Abby with a broken heart and changed her advice to her sister. She told Emma to forget about love and the dream of romance. She advised Emma to find a match to give her a comfortable life and hope for happiness in marriage. If happiness didn’t come from the gentleman, then hope would come in the form of children.

Distracted from her thoughts, she watched as her father’s carriage approached. It was going much faster than normal.

“Father is here,” she called out as she closed her book.

“I was beginning to worry,” her mother said, looking up from her stitching.

“I think something is amiss,” she said, her voice trailing off as she stood from her seat.

“What do you mean?” Henry asked, walking over to look out the window.

Emma watched as her father lifted a man from the carriage. She found herself running along with her brother out of the parlor and into the entryway, where her father was giving orders and servants were rushing to do as he said. Her eyes rested on the man they car- ried. He was wet and covered in blood and mud. Compassion filled her when she saw blood dripping on the floor as they carried him past her.

“Put him in the green room,” her mother called, stepping in to take charge of the situation.

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