was reaching England. He had wired for an extension and still hadn't returned to work.
She told Harrison she supposed she would never meet the man because she fully expected to be back in Montana before the first hard snow, and it didn't look like MacPherson planned on returning to England any time soon. Harrison didn't agree or disagree with her assumption.
As time went on, she became more and more withdrawn. She'd written to her brothers at least a dozen times and still hadn't heard a word from them. She didn't want to bother Harrison with her worry that something had happened and her brothers were trying to shield her from bad news, and so she fretted about it in silence. She hadn't heard from her mama either, and she knew Cole had sent her Mary Rose's address. Had something happened to her?
Dear God, what would she do if her mama needed her and she couldn't go to her?
Worrying about her family put her on edge, of course. Her relationship with her Aunt Lillian became increasingly brittle. Eleanor had become the aunt's darling, and Lady Lillian was constantly comparing the two young ladies. Eleanor cooperated; Mary Rose didn't. Eleanor appreciated what the family could do for her. She adored her new clothes and realized the importance of looking smart at all times. Mary Rose would do well to learn from her friend's example. No one ever saw Eleanor with a smudge on her dress or
Mary Rose couldn't understand her aunt's obsession with such superficial matters. The behavior of the upper crust puzzled her. Women, it seemed, spent most of their days changing their clothes. Mary Rose was expected to wear a riding habit in the morning, then change to a day dress, then a tea gown, and finally put on an elegant dinner gown. It seemed to her that she was always running up the stairs to put on something different.
Women weren't supposed to engage men in conversation about political matters either. It wasn't considered ladylike to show one's intelligence. Did she wish to embarrass Harrison by behaving like an equal? No, no, of course she didn't, her aunt decreed. Mary Rose must learn to talk about home and family. She must present a smile to the world, and if she wanted to argue or criticize, well then, that was what her staff was for. It was perfectly all right to find fault with the servants.
Mary Rose didn't tell her aunt what she thought about her opinions. She knew she frustrated her relatives. She wanted to please her aunts and her father, and so each morning she vowed to try a little harder to live up to everyone's expectations. Her Aunt Barbara suggested she think of herself as
August and most of September were spent preparing her for her place in society. Mary Rose learned all about the hierarchy amongst the titled gentlemen and ladies, who was interested in what, those she should avoid and those she should be especially nice to, and on and on and on, until her mind became cluttered with all the unimportant details she mustn't dare forget.
She spent her afternoons being tutored while she sat with her cousins in the conservatory of her father's home learning how to do needlework and other crafts.
Lord Elliott continued to pile work on Harrison. He was sent from one end of England to another on business matters, and on those rare occasions when he returned to his wife, she inevitably broached the subject of going home. Harrison put her off by telling her to wait a little longer before she made her decision.
He also gave her constant praise, so much so that she began to wonder why he liked what was being done to her.
Her last spurt of rebellion came just the day before she was to attend her very first ball. She found her Aunt Lillian in her bedroom going through her clothes.
'What are you doing, Aunt Lillian?'
'Ann Marie told me you're still wearing these crinolines, Victoria. They're out of fashion now. Don't you remember, dear? The tighter skirts are in. Shouldn't you think about throwing them out?'
Mary Rose was appalled by the idea. Throwing away perfectly good underskirts had to be sinful. She vehemently argued with her aunt.
A tug-of-war resulted. The underskirt her aunt was trying to take and Mary Rose was trying to keep ended up being torn in half. In the midst of the struggle, buckshot clattered to the floor.
'What in the name of God is that?' her aunt wanted to know.
'It's buckshot, Aunt Lillian. My friend Blue Belle suggested I sew some into the hems of my underskirts to weigh them down. The wind can sometimes become strong enough to blow a lady's skirts up over her head in the West.'
Lillian was so appalled by her explanation, she had to sit down. She ordered Ann Marie to fetch her smelling salts and then patted the seat next to her and suggested to Mary Rose that they have another nice long talk.
Mary Rose knew what was coming. Her aunt wanted to assure her for the hundredth time that she and the family only had her best interests at heart. She would also tell her never to mention putting buckshot in her skirt hems again.
The family moved into their London quarters late that afternoon, and the following evening she was duly presented to her father's friends and associates at a formal ball in honor of her marriage.
She wore a beautiful ivory evening gown with matching gloves. Her hair was swept up into a cluster of curls and secured with sapphire clips. The dress was dangerously low cut, in keeping with the current fashion, and her maid had to assure her several times she really wasn't going to spill out of the bodice.
'You look like Lady Victoria,' she whispered once she'd finished fussing with her mistress's curls.
Harrison almost missed his own party. He had just returned to London two hours before. He looked exhausted to her. Her husband stood with her father in the entryway and watched her walk down the stairs. Elliott was fairly overwhelmed by his daughter. He grabbed hold of Harrison 's arm to steady himself and whispered, 'I see my Agatha when I gaze upon Victoria.'
Mary Rose could see how happy her father was. She reached the bottom of the steps and executed a perfect curtsy. Her aunts and uncle stood in the background watching. Tears filled her Aunt Lillian's eyes as she watched her niece.
'Well done, Victoria,' she praised. 'Well done.'
Harrison was the only one not pleased with what he was seeing. He wanted his wife to go back upstairs and put on something less revealing.
'She'll catch a cold,' he argued.
'Nonsense,' Aunt Lillian scoffed. 'She'll wear her new jacket and be just fine.'
Eleanor kept them waiting another fifteen minutes. She finally came down the stairs dressed in a pale green evening gown. She stared at Aunt Lillian for approval, and when the woman gave her a brisk nod and a quick smile, Eleanor beamed with pleasure.
Harrison was helping Mary Rose put on her fur jacket when Aunt Lillian spotted her gold chain.
'Where are your sapphires?' she asked.
'Upstairs,' Mary Rose answered. 'I wanted to wear my locket and Ann Marie told me I couldn't wear both.'
'It won't do, dear. Why, the chain looks tarnished. Take it off this instant. Edward, run upstairs and fetch the sapphires.'
'She wants to wear her locket,' Harrison announced. 'It has special meaning to her, and to me.'
Her father also decided to champion her cause, and two men against one woman should have weighed the outcome in their favor. It didn't though. As usual, Aunt Lillian was a force to be reckoned with. A battle would have ensued if Mary Rose hadn't graciously given in.
She asked the butler to take her locket upstairs and put it on her desk. She also added the request that he be careful with it.
Aunt Lillian stopped frowning once the sapphire necklace was clipped around Mary Rose's neck.
'Do you ever get to win?' Harrison asked her on the way out the door.
'No, but that isn't important,' she answered. 'My aunt has my best interests at heart.'
Harrison wasn't at all certain about her Aunt Lillian's motives, but because Mary Rose didn't seem upset by the woman's constant bullying, he decided not to make an issue out of the necklace now.
Mary Rose was filled with excitement. She felt like a princess in a fairy tale. She was determined to make her father proud of her and said several hasty prayers that she wouldn't do anything to embarrass any of her
