"Seeking the Niceties of Marriage", by Gratiana Lovelace, 2021 (Done)

Ch. 03: Becoming Reacquainted

"Seeking the Niceties of Marriage", Ch. 03: Becoming Reacquainted, May 02, 2021 by Gratiana Lovelace (Post#1378) 

(An original Regency Romance story copyrighted by Gratiana Lovelace, 2021; All rights reserved)  [(1) story cover above left] 

Ch. 03: Becoming Reacquainted

And the smile of her Mama Lady Creighton cannot be contained. She envisions a beautiful wedding for her youngest daughter with the handsome Viscount Carlisle who will one day visit with her and Lord Creighton at their Earl of Stoke Park estate in Wiltshire with their future children, her hoped for grandchildren. Lady Creighton's imaginings are running away with her, and there is not even a hint of an understanding between the two young people. Time will tell.

So as Lady Emily and Lord Edward walk away from Lord Kittredge Wells and her parents Lord and Lady Creighton, Lord Edward smiles agreeably down at her and pats her gloved hand curled around his arm.

Lord Edward: "Emmy, I wonder if there will be any punch left, considering the press of humanity here this evening."

Lady Emily: "Yes, it is a bit of a crush." Then she looks down at her ballgown's full skirt. "And I suppose we ladies do not help the situation by our taking up more space than is necessary with our skirts." I say sheepishly. "I miss the older gown styles of empire waists without layers upon layers of petticoats puffing me out." She winces cutely.

Again, Lady Emily's outspokenness--about ladies' unmentionables this time, in the form of petticoats--is perhaps why she has not caught on with anyone yet. However, Lord Edward finds Lady Emily refreshing as he smiles indulgently at her.

Lord Edward: Maintaining a positive attitude, he suggests. "But your ladies' ball gowns are so becoming on you. We gentleman could not begrudge you the space they inhabit."

Knowing that he is not complimenting her gown--just ladies' gowns in general—Lady Emily nods and smiles wincingly.

Lady Emily: "Thank you for being kind, Lord Edward. You always seem to know the right thing to say."

Lord Edward: "I would disagree. I am woefully out of practice in conversing with young ladies, due to ..." Here he stops. There is no need to tell her he is a widower--even though he is a reluctant one.

Lady Emily: "Yes, of course. I am so sorry. There, you see? I always say the wrong thing." Lady Emily frets as she gazes up at him compassionately.

Lord Edward at six foot three inches tall is more than a foot taller than Lady Emily. So she is getting a crick in her neck straining to look up at him from her close prospect. And she wonders were they to find open seating around the perimeter of the ballroom, if she could suggest to Lord Edward that he sit, whilst she remains standing. Of course, people might think that Lord Edward was being discourteous were he not to remain standing in her presence—or that he has some infirmity. Whereas Lady Emily would hope that with a seated Lord Edward she might be able to look him directly in the eyes. And she gives an involuntary shiver to contemplate something so intimate as gazing directly into a man's eyes.

Lord Edward: "Are you chilled, Lady Emily?" He asks solicitously. She shyly shakes her head no. Then he continues.   ["]I would not say that you always nor necessarily do you say the wrong thing, Lady Emily. You complimented me. It is just that my situation lends itself to melancholy responses from people."

Lady Emily: "Of course, about your wife dying." She nods sympathetically and bites her lower lip. "It was truly tragic. You were married only four months and then she was killed in a carriage accident on the way to visiting her parents." Lady Emily--like most people in society--has only heard the agreed upon revised story of Lady Edith Carlisle's death, not the sordid abandoning her marriage and eloping to Scotland part of it.