Page 6 of A Spinster for the Rakish Duke
That was the plan until she had a chance toactuallyspend time with Mr. Dole.
Chapter Five
Her Aunt Barbara agreed to sit in on the tea as Emma’s escort, but she sat so far back that Emma might as well have sat at the table alone with him. The first few moments were heavy with awkward silence. Finally, Mr. Dole cleared his throat.
“I’ve been looking forward to this since your Aunt has made these arrangements on my behalf. A dear friend, she is. And doing me such kindness by finding me a pretty wife.”
Emma smiled weakly, thanking Mr. Dole for the compliment. “My brother Benjamin tells me you are a solicitor?”
Mr. Dole nodded, “Though I don’t take nearly as many cases as I used to. I find the work too... challenging now. Perhaps my age has shortened the fuse of my temper, but I find an old man has little patience for modern litigation.” He laughed lightly. “That is, in part, why I have chosen to search out a wife now. I will have the time for a family that I didn’t have before.”
“The time, Mr. Dole?” Emma asked uncertainly.
“Why, yes. I have had many passions that took priority before becoming the head of a family. By the time I was ready to sort it out, I had become an old man.” He laughed heartily again.
“Not to be overly contrary, Mr. Dole, but such remarks from my betrothed are concerning me. My family has always been so important to me. I can’t imagine anything possibly taking priority over them. To hear you talk of our theoretical future family together almost as if they are an afterthought does not put my mind at ease,” Emma said politely but firmly. She didn’t want to risk miscommunicating anything to the man she could end up spending the rest of her life with.
Mr. Dole nodded and raised a hand. “There is nothing to worry about at all, dear. I understand my inexperience with such matters may not be viewed favorably in a future husband. Rest assured that you will be overseeing all of the family matters, so nothing will be occurring without your approval.”
For the rest of the teatime, Emma remained tight-lipped and slightly cool. His answer had not comforted her at all. She didn’t mind the idea of having a family, but she did mind being pandered to, being patronized.
Emma told herself that she was being too harsh to Mr. Dole. He was simply trying to comfort her. She might have even misunderstood what he meant by that. She couldn’t let a bit of a ruffled early impression make their courtship more difficult.He deserved the same chance as anyone. Emma affirmed this to herself, but Mr. Dole was quick to use up his chances with her.
It was at their next meeting, a garden luncheon, that her betrothed would show more of his true colors. The talk started politely at first, but the point of the matter was to become more intimate, so it soon turned to more personal matters.
“Your aunt mentioned that you were the one that raised your brother and sisters, and that your marriage late in life is because you committed so much to your family,” he said with a somewhat gentle tone that suggested that this was a lead-in for praise.
“That is true. My siblings and I lost our mother when we were young, and I knew that they would need someone to look after them.”
“Good. That's very good,” he nodded assertively.
“Good?” Emma hesitated, “I’m not sure I agree, Mr. Dole.”
“Well, of course you do, Miss Bradford. You know that your siblings turned out to be good people and all due to your natural motherly instincts. That's something I find very admirable. There is no need for you to be humble and no need for a woman to deny what comes to her by nature.”
Emma shook her head. “I’m not being humble, Mr. Dole. I think you lack some specific perspective on the situation. What I did,I did out of love, true, but also of necessity. Three children were not old enough to care for themselves. What was I to do? Let them run wild and uncared for? I think nature has very little a role to play into it. No, sir, Mr. Dole. I think you very much have the wrong impression.”
“I in no way meant any offense,” Mr. Dole stated flatly, neither sounding perturbed nor apologetic.
Emma only acknowledged his non apology with a slight nod of her head before returning silently to her lunch. When Mr. Dole realized that Emma was no longer acknowledging his attempts at conversation with her outside of the minimum one-word answers, he turned to converse with Aunt Barbara while he finished his lunch.
When he thanked them both and left, Emma expected her Aunt to give her a firm talking to, but it never came. Instead, her Aunt just went about like the lunch wasn’t a complete disaster. Emma could not understand it.
Emma did make a point of not confirming more arrangements with Mr. Dole. She was not yet at a point where she would call off the betrothal. Two bad impressions left a sour taste in her mouth, but Mr. Dole hadn’t done anything untoward.
Emma was considering how to proceed with Mr. Dole and how to talk to her Aunt Barbara when she came down to find them both conversing over breakfast one morning.
“Ah, Emma, we’ve been waiting for you. Come, join us.” Her aunt waved her over excitedly, both of them sitting opposite one another with Mr. Dole at the head of the table. The younger woman was shocked that her betrothed had been invited over without her permission or her acknowledgment. Again, the conversation was primarily carried out by Mr. Dole and Aunt Barbara while Emma tried to find her footing in the situation.
“I personally find it a rather silly matter. What do you think, Emma?” Mr. Dole asking her a question suddenly pulled her from her fog of disbelief.
“I’m sorry?” Emma asked.
“I said that my most recent work involves a railway. The local Lord is disputing the lease of the land allowing the railway to tunnel through some hills on his land. Says it will disrupt the view. Hogwash, says I. As an old man, I feel like there's something wrong with the younger generation, if I have to be the one who advocates for the march of forward progress.”
Emma did not have it in her to argue with her betrothed but did want to make certain she understood. “You think that preserving the view is a waste?”
“A view as a trade for a train? I’ve explained to the Lord he is going to lose hundreds if not thousands, but he is more concerned with preserving the land's natural beauty. Absolute hogwash,” Mr. Dole grunted again.
