Page 7 of To Know Miss May
August wasn’t sure if Emma meant ‘peculiar’ in a negative way, but if she was referring to how different she seemed than others, he couldn’t deny it. “Indeed.”
“Did ye speak with ’er much ’fore ye left the mount?”
“No,” he responded. “Our interaction be limited. Nonexistent, e’en. Our conversation in ’em bushes be longer than all the times we’ve spoken combined.”
Emma nodded, accepting his offered arm as they walked slowly toward the others who had stopped at another shop across the road.
She said nothing further, seemingly done with the conversation, but August wasn’t. “Tell me, the way me sisters behaved…be that a normal occurrence?”
Emma gave him a sidelong glance. “I wouldn’t wish to speak out o’ turn.”
“By all means, that be precisely what I wish for ye to do. I trust your words more than most on the Mount.”
Still, Emma hesitated, continuing in a manner that showed how greatly she considered her words before voicing them. “Miss May be a kind woman. But she don’t conform to Society’s standards. She reads too much and speaks too little. As a result, I fear she ’as become the brunt o’ much gossip and tongue waggin’. From your sisters, in particular.”
“Me sisters?” he asked, shaking his head in dismay.
He could not abide cruelty of any form. To know that his sisters treated someone as seemingly innocuous as Lavinia May in such a way, he couldn’t bear it.
“Be they cruel to others?” he asked.
Emma winced. “I fear they’ve adopted a newfound propensity to gossip about anyone and everyone.”
He stared up ahead, seeing his sisters laughing boisterously at something Nicholas said, and he grimaced. Now he truly would need to speak with Mother and Father. This sort of behavior was unacceptable—especially for a Moon.
“Do not be too ’ard on ’em,” Emma said, apparently reading his thoughts. “They still be young in the ways o’ the world. They’ve not experienced much ’eartache or trials to mature ’em, I fear. But I be certain, with time, they shall grow kinder.”
August was not so certain. Miss May had clearly been negatively affected by their teasing, and he would not allow it to continue.
He wasn’t aware of Emma’s continued silence for a moment until he glanced down at her, seeing her staring off at his sisters, or rather, at Nicholas. He didn’t have to guess where her thoughts had strayed.
He thought back to her words—about maturing after trials and heartache, and he couldn’t help but think she was speaking of herself.
He placed a comforting hand over hers on his arm, and she looked up before releasing a heavy sigh. “Forgive me. I do not mean to sulk.”
“If there be anyone who ’as earned the right to sulk, it is ye, Emma.”
She gave him a warm smile, then faced the others again, her voice in a low whisper as she continued. “It be difficult, seein’ ’im, but not bein’ able to be near ’im.”
He patted her hand again. “Keep up your spirits. In time, I be sure the two of ye will be allowed to be together.”
She peered up at him with a smile. “Thank ye again for all your ’elp, August. We couldn’t ’ave made it this far without ye.”
He nodded, giving her another encouraging smile before they reached the others, even though he did not believe the words he said to her. He was not certain at all that things would work out for the best, especially because he was doing very little to help.
And honestly, how could everything work out, how could Nicholas and Emma marry, when both of their parents forbade it?
Still, he would keep his faith at the forefront of his mind, because if his best friends in the world had difficulty being with the person they loved, what hope did he have when he found someone to love, as well?
CHAPTER FOUR
She wanted to complain, not to be consoled; and it was by exclamations of complaint only, [she] learned the particular circumstances of her affliction.”
The Mysteries of Udolpho, Ann Radcliffe
Of all the people to see—in all the places to see them.
Livvy marched across the causeway, her cheeks still aflame due to her stupidity. She should have waited longer before attempting to leave the bushes. She knew that. But then her blasted skirts had become all tangled up and the thickness of the shrubbery prevented her from seeing clearly and…
