The Vicar's Daughters

Betrayal

Amanda and Rachel sat in the sitting room between their bedrooms. Their candle was burning low, but neither one wanted to go to bed. The wedding was over, the happy celebration wound to a close, the guests gone home.

"Why does it seem so empty?" Amanda asked. Rachel shrugged. "You know what's odd?" she continued. "That both you and I were engaged, that we both expected to be married before Marian. And now she's off and married, and here we are... still single, at home."

"It seems she was blessed, in a way," Rachel said. "She never complained to us, or said anything was unfair. She was always hopeful. Remember how we teased that we'd bring her a rich cousin or friend of one of our husbands?"

Amanda smiled, remembering. "Turns out she didn't need our help finding a husband."

"She'll have a husband she loves, but no money," Rachel added.

"They won't be poor forever."

"No, indeed. Father says he's going to help Simeon in a new venture. He invested part of the funds from the horse sales this summer into a transportation company in Darlington. They are going to have a line and horses will pull the cars all the way from the coal mines in Durham to Stockton-on-Tees. The coal will get to the port faster."

"They'll build a road for the wagons to follow?"

"It's called a rail road. Right now they only use them in mines. The cars are moved along a metal rail, like a bridge, sort of."

Amanda pursed her lips thoughtfully. "I guess it could work."

They were quiet for a moment, imagining the future. "What about you, Rachel? Your wedding?"

"I don't know—" she swallowed hard. "I don't think there will be a wedding."

"What? But John—Lord Ellsworth—he'd be disowned! He's promised to you!"

"Not really. Remember, we have no official engagement. There was no wedding contract. He's never hidden the fact that his mother would not approve."

"But if he loved you, why would he not?"

"That's just it, Amanda. He likes me, we're friends. But he does not love me. I think there is something else drawing him away. He has been riding out to the moor farms nearly every day. The servants have talked of it. I've seen him returning several times. He always rides past our house, as if he were visiting me. But he's going somewhere else entirely."

"Where? Do you have any idea?"

"No. But I will make him tell me. If there's one thing Marian's wedding has shown me, it's that being forced into a situation is the last thing I want for my life. I want to choose, and choose right."

Amanda nodded, then yawned. "I should go to sleep."

"You've had a trying day. I think this is the longest you've left the house in a month."

"It felt good." She stood, then turned back to Rachel. "I found out one thing today. The world moved on while I was holed up in my room. I missed it. I missed the change from summer to fall. I missed life. I don't want to miss any more." She smiled grimly and slipped into her bedchamber, closing the door with a soft thud.

#

Rachel had sent a note to the Ellsworth estate, addressed to The Honourable John Ellsworth, last Tuesday. It had taken her most of the night to compose the note in a way she felt was sufficient, and she wasted many precious slips of paper. But it was finally folded and sealed, and she'd slept fitfully, dreaming of its delivery and the recipient's response.