lover <3

six

***
we walked back inside and sue went to help in the kitchen while i joined austin and edward in the parlor,"morning." i fretted as i sat in an empty chair while grabbing a newspaper.

edward looked up from his paper,"ah, good morning y/n."

austin sent me a smile before turning tk his father,"dad, do you really think the whig party can survive?"

"i certainly hope so, since i'm running for congress as a whig."

austin nodded,"it just feels like no one in this country can agree on anything anymore."

i hummed in agreement,"it does appear we've gotten a bit polarized.

"morning dad!" i heard the muffled words and turned around to see emily with an orange in her mouth. i quietly laughed at how sure she looked before edward cleared his throw at obviynot as amused.

emily spit out the orange and walked over next to me. she sat on the arm of my chair while we watched austin greet sue,"good morning my beloved."

emily and i grimaced at the sight before she snatched the paper out of my hands,"let's see what's in the paper."

her face turned into a small frown,"oh no, they don't even have the big news."

i tried reading over her arm,"what big news?"

"the caterpillar in my garden turned into a butterfly."

austin shook his head,"you're so weird."

i leaned up to emily's ear,"your weirdness is what makes you cute." her frown turned into a small smile.

~~~

at the breakfast table emily was still looking through the paper,"oh! there's a famous geologist giving a lecture today," i looked over her shoulder,"he just got back from a lab on mount vesuvius," she sighed, intrigued,"a laboratory on a volcano? that's the coolest thing i've ever heard."

i smiled at how interested she was. i looked across the table to see sue smirking at me. i just rolled my eyes before turning back to my food.

edward spoke up,"yes, professor hitchcock. star of the harvard science department until we poached him. big win for amherst. austin, you should go."

austin looked up from his plate,"oh, no, i'm good."

edward turned to his son,"what? how can you miss this?"

"i graduated a year ago dad. i've had enough lectures."

emily shrugged,"i'll go."

"no," edward said firmly. i sighed already knowing where this conversation was gonna go.

emily groaned,"well why not?"

"i believe you know why not."

"why can't women go to the lecture?" emily pushed.

"professor hitchcock was hired to teach students at the college, not girls who live in the town."

emily slumped down in her chair,"well why can't i go to the college?"

"i wrote about it in my essay 'on the proper place of women'. you did read my essay didn't you?"

"i skimmed it."

edward sighed and put down his fork,"alright, then let me summarize. a woman should receive an education, to be sure. but that education should not be the same as a man's."

even though i didn't agree with edwards words, i kept my mouth shut.

emily took a deep breath,"and why should it when the role for which she is being trained is so very different?"

"look, an education prepares one for a career. and the career of a woman is in the home." he said matter of factly.

"well, what if I want to learn about volcanoes so that i can entertain guests when they come over?" emily tried.

"well, i see you are in a silly mood this morning, my girl." edward laughed.

mrs. dickinson pulled edward into his office to talk.

once they were out of sight emily spoke again,"it's just not fair. there's so much i wanna learn, and i can't just go and get taught. i have to steal random bits of knowledge when no one else is looking." she sounded like a little kid.

austin sighed,"i wouldn't stress about it. school is boring."

"wouldn't be boring for me because my brain works." i choked on my juice at emily's words as she smiled, proud of her remark. sue tried to hide her smile across the table.

austin frowned,"hey that's not nice. besides, we couldn't allow girls at school. it would be too distracting." he said while smirking at sue.

i yelled at him from across the table,"hey hey hey! don't look at my little sister like that, it's weird."

emily groaned,"ugh, i just want to go to this lecture."

austin put down his napkin,"well i want to go look over the blueprints for the new house that father is making for us," he smiled proudly,"it's going to be a romantic italian villa. so pimp," i cringed at the word pimp,"sue would you like to join me?"

"oh austin i cant, im sorry. i told mrs. packard i'd help sort through her dead husbands things."

"and why is that you're job?"

"it's payment for y/n and i's room and board."

austin sighed and grabbed sue's hand,"fine, if we must be separate today, you can't forget about our little ritual."

i looked between them confused,"what ritual?"

austin answered me but still looking at sue,"just this thing we do where we both eat a chestnut at the ring of the vesper bell."

i nodded and looked at emily, then back at them,"okay, we'll join you."

"no. just me and sue." he said sternly.

i answered with just as much meaning,"chestnut at the vesper bell. you cant stop me."

***

(sorry this chapter is kind of a filler. more stuff will happen between y/n and emily in the next one.)