by Abigail Agar
They were both quiet for a moment.
“What is it that you wished to come and speak to me about?” Eric asked, thinking that she might need him to begin the conversation.
Amelia took in a deep breath.
“It is about…a change of heart that I have had,” she said.
“A change of heart?” he asked.
She nodded and just then, there was a knock at the door.
“Come in,” Eric called.
The tea was brought, and Eric and Amelia were silent as it was poured for them. But soon, they were alone once more.
“Please, continue,” Eric said.
“Well, perhaps it is not a change of heart at all. In fact, I think this is where my heart has been from the very beginning. But, you must understand, all of this has been exceedingly difficult for me,” Amelia said.
“What exactly? And where is your heart now?” he asked. Although he could make a guess, Eric wanted to hear it from Amelia. He wanted to give her the respect of acknowledging her own thoughts and feelings and opinions.
“I wanted to know you all along. It was my bitterness that held me back from relenting to that desire and coming to see you, coming here and getting to know you. I was frightened because I feared that if I approved of you, somehow it would mean approving of our father,” she said.
“Yes, I can understand how that might be a fear,” Eric said.
“It was rather difficult. Honestly, I wish that I had allowed myself to be happy, and to have hope, much sooner. But you know that I did not think that I could,” she said.
“Yes, I know,” he said, nodding again to make her feel more at ease.
“My mother would never have approved. She still will not,” Amelia said.
“I understand her reasons. It is a difficult situation in which we find ourselves. Your mother suffered a great deal and it wounds me to think that my father was responsible for it. And I am sad that I was the one who experienced fortune and opportunity because of his actions,” Eric said, acknowledging that it was wrong.
“I want to know you. I want to have you as my brother,” she said.
Eric was deeply moved by the pronouncement. He was happy and delighted all at once, but he also wondered about it all. How could he learn to accept her words when she had been so cruel? How could he trust her when she and her mother had made so many attacks against him?
Still, he tried. He tried to hear her and believe the words that she was saying. He tried to trust that this was not some terrible trick that she and her mother had thought of.
Amelia appeared perfectly honest and genuine. He wanted to hold on to that. He wanted to believe that she was the woman that he was starting to see, not the angry young lady who was rife with hate because of the mistakes that his father had made.
“Amelia, do you really mean all of this? You want to have a relationship?” he asked.
“Yes,” she said, nodding enthusiastically and with tears in her eyes.
There was no questioning it now. Eric could see the sincerity in her eyes. Amelia meant her words, she really wanted this. She was not going to sit back and allow for anything to come between them.
Finally, after everything, there was trust blooming between brother and sister.
Eric felt the tension release from his shoulders and Amelia looked at him with a smile that mirrored his own.
“I am so happy that we are finally at peace with one another,” Amelia said.
“As am I. And I cannot wait to get to know you better and to grow closer as brother and sister. We are going to have a wonderful life ahead, as friends and as family,” Eric said.
“I don’t want my mother to know yet,” Amelia said, a sudden warning in her voice.
“I understand. I shall say nothing that will get back to her. As for my own mother, I need to go to London to see her. I have been a very bad son of late and have allowed her to be on her own in the midst of everything that has taken place,” Eric said.
“Then, yes, you must go to her. But you will come back to see me, will you not?” Amelia asked. She appeared to be genuinely hopeful, wanting to spend time with him if she could.
This was a great relief to Eric. He was thrilled that she truly appeared to care about spending this time with him and he thought that nothing could make him happier than knowing that his sister finally wanted a relationship with him.
“Of course I will. As often as I am able,” he promised.
She finally appeared content and took another sip of her tea. Amelia was a different person than she had been when Eric had begun this journey. She was suddenly kinder, less harsh. She appeared to have undergone some vulnerability that he had not previously expected.
“Amelia, although I would love nothing more than to know one another better, there is one matter we must also discuss,” Eric said.
The relieved look on her face twitched, showing that she was somewhat nervous once more.
“Yes? What is it?” she asked.
“I will say nothing to your mother about all of this, but you must speak with her regarding Miss Sproul,” Eric said.
“You mean because of the scandal sheets?” Amelia asked.
Eric started.
“Well, yes. I mean, if anyone sees me with her, they will think that she is the one being mentioned,” he said.
“You do not know?” Amelia asked.
“Know what?” Eric asked in reply, suddenly very alert.
“The papers have now named her. She has been mentioned directly,” Amelia said.
Eric felt his skin grow cold and prickle all over. It couldn’t be. He couldn’t have put Emma at this great a risk. Now, here he was, having it confirmed that because of him, her reputation had been declared immoral for all of England.
“Please, tell me this is not true,” he said. It was a shock that he could not quite handle or process.
“Unfortunately, it is,” Amelia replied.
“You must speak to your mother. Undo it. She has to leave Miss Sproul alone,” Eric said.
“I know. I have already told her that it is not right that Emma has been dragged into all of this. She knows and she is remorseful…to an extent. She didn’t mean for Emma to be hurt, but you know how the papers take things and exaggerate them,” Amelia said.
“It matters not what the papers have done. I am asking you to call her off. Make her stop this nonsense. It is entirely wrong that Miss Sproul has been caught in the midst of all of this. She needs to clear the young lady’s name,” Eric said.
Amelia looked up at him, her eyes holding a question that he did not want her to ask.
“What is it?” he finally prompted after growing uncomfortable under her gaze.
“Do you like her? I mean, do you have feelings for Emma?” Amelia asked.
Eric knew that there was no point in denying it, yet how could he confess such a thing to his sister? They had not built any sort of real relationship yet. He didn’t know how she would respond to his confession.
And yet, why would he bother lying about it now?
“Yes. I am fond of her. Despite everything, the fact that she is your friend and the knowledge that it would be difficult for a romance to ever blossom between us, I am fond of her,” Eric admitted.
Amelia’s smile was undeniable, although she tried to hide it from him.
“Well, it was obvious enough. I cannot pretend that I didn’t know from the very beginning of all of this. That first day when you entered the dress shop, I was distracted by our resemblance, but I could see that you were distracted by Emma. That you tried not to show it, but you were rather taken,” Amelia said.
“Please, do not allow this fact to contribute towards any words against Miss Sproul. I would never give a reason for her reputation to be questioned. I only wish that people would be willing to listen to me when I told them that she should not be,” Eric said.
“I know. I know that Emma is a good woman. Far better than me, at the very least,” she said with
a shrug. “I would not contribute towards her name being misrepresented. I shall do all that I can to convince my mother to leave her alone.”
“Thank you. I would appreciate that. I wish that my mother was also not affected by all of this. I can handle it for myself, but for the two of them? It breaks my heart,” Eric confessed.
“I know. I am sure that your mother is a good woman, but she was also caught in the midst of this. Your father…our father…he was a bad man,” she said.
“Yes, he was at times. He was also good at times. I wish that you could have known the side of him that was good. I wish that he had not made this mistake that has forever branded him a villain in your eyes,” Eric said.
“But how could anyone who was good do these things?” Amelia asked.
“He was a man. He was flawed. He could be kind now and then, truly. But he was always selfish. And it was not cruelty that caused him to behave that way towards your mother. At least, I don’t believe so,” Eric said.
“Then what was it?” Amelia asked, attitude in her voice.
“What I said. It was selfishness,” Eric replied.
She nodded, although he could see that she still considered him cruel. And Eric could hardly blame Amelia for that.
But at least now, she was learning that he was not his father. Eric could prove to her that he was a good man, better than that. He could show her that he was decent.
And maybe, he could undo the damage that had already been done.
Chapter 32
Without a second thought, Emma turned the handle of the door and stormed into the small tenement home. She had had enough of all of this and was not going to sit idly by while Liza destroyed her.
A startled Liza looked up. She was taking off her shoes and setting down a bag full of vegetables, as though she had only just arrived at home.
Emma felt no remorse in disturbing the woman despite her sudden arrival. She did not care one bit for the fact that she should have knocked or sent word that she was coming. None of that mattered.
She was here to speak with Liza Lockhart and to demand that she be left alone.
Emma’s mother followed her, the same fierce determination in her typically tender eyes. The two Sproul women were both known for their timid demeanour, but in that moment, they were out for a vengeance of their own.
“Good heavens, I was not expecting guests,” Liza Lockhart said.
“We are not here on social business,” Emma said, freely.
“I can see that from your stance. Might I guess why it is that you have come?” Liza asked, her face a mask of harsh confidence.
“You may guess, and I suspect that you will guess correctly,” Emma replied.
“Yes, well, I imagine that you are here because those fools who run the scandal sheets included your name this time,” Liza said, breezily.
Emma scoffed.
“So you pretend that they did that all on their own?” she asked.
“It is not as though I told them to include you. Why would you imagine such a thing?” Liza asked.
“How else would they have my name? If you had said nothing about me, they would not have managed to come up with the ridiculous notion that I have made the same foolish choices that you did,” Emma said, shaking with anger. She had never felt more emboldened to speak her mind.
“I deserved better!” Liza shouted, rounding on her.
For a moment, the three women were silent, quieted by Liza’s outburst. But soon enough, she was ready to continue.
“I deserved better and so do you,” Liza said.
“Yes,” Emma’s mother said, stepping forward and clenching her fists. “My daughter does deserve better than this. She deserves better than to be caught in the midst of your regret and your mistakes. She deserves better than to have all of England making false assumptions about her character.”
Liza sneered.
“You are a mother, do you not understand what it takes to help your daughter? Do you really think that it is all right to throw away a young woman’s future? Her reputation? Her very name?” she asked.
“I am doing what must be done to show the world who that dreadful earl is,” Liza said.
“No, you are trying to take down his family for a mistake made by his father. You are trying to destroy him and all those near him. You are not even doing it in order to regain your own reputation. This is purely your attempt to make them as miserable as you are and I cannot abide that,” Emma’s mother declared.
“Mrs. Sproul, you love your daughter and I can appreciate that. But you should know that she is putting herself in the precarious position of becoming just like me should she continue as she has been,” Liza said.
“She will never be anything like you. My daughter works hard and she comes home after she finishes her work, unless she stays late or is with your daughter. She has never given me any reason not to trust her,” she said.
Emma knew that her mother was unaware of the one time that she did have dinner with the earl, but now was hardly the moment to mention it. It had been nothing but a dinner. There was no reason to allow the moment to be interrupted.
“How do you know that she is working? She could be lying to you,” Liza accused.
Emma squinted her eyes in an angry glare, but she allowed her mother to continue for now.
“Perhaps you raised a daughter that you must question, or maybe you only question her because you know that you were so untrustworthy and had so little self-discipline. But I know my daughter,” her mother insisted.
“So you shame me for having made a choice?” Liza asked, angered by Emma’s mother appearing to have made an accusation against her character while defending Emma’s.
“I shame you for assuming that my daughter will make the same one. I shame you for suggesting that she has no better head on her shoulders than you did,” Mrs. Sproul said.
Liza released a sound of disgust and Emma wondered where she might go next in her fury.
“You ought to reign her in, that’s all I am saying. I am warning you that every young woman is at risk if we are not careful. These noblemen are always going about, ruining hearts and reputations without a second thought because their own will be remade within the year,” Liza said.
“I have had enough of this,” Emma’s mother said.
“You will have a great deal more of it if you don’t convince her to stay away from the Earl of Thornbury,” Liza warned.
“Will you cease with these false accusations?” Mrs. Sproul asked, sounding exhausted by it all.
“As if you know they are false,” Liza said, her sarcasm a spike.
“How dare you! My daughter is a moral girl. That is not merely my opinion, it is a fact of her nature. How dare you suggest anything otherwise,” her mother said.
“And how dare you come here when you know nothing of what began all of this. I deserved better. I should have known, but I was young and foolish. I am merely trying to spare your daughter from making the same mistake,” Liza said.
“By making her unmarriageable to any decent man? By ensuring that her reputation is forever destroyed and no man will come near her because he thinks that she has been tainted by a nobleman?” her mother asked, her voice rising in pitch.