Page 33 of The Gentlewoman Author

This plan must work. She was ready to beg. “It would be a betrayal not to come, for I go with or without you. If Aunt Mary discovers I am gone alone, think of her distress!”

“I will tell her now.”

“It will do no good. If I do not leave tonight, I will leave tomorrow. If they return me to my father, I will run from him. They will have to cage me to keep me. There is no stopping me, so you must come with me. For Aunt Mary.”

“Tell me all.” Nellie did not have a husband, and though several years older than Louisa, not so old that she would not understand Louisa’s predicament. At least, Louisa hoped so.

She explained about her father and his arranging a match. “I am out of time.”

“But why rush off? If you tell your father, he will accept Mr. Savage.”

Louisa sighed. How to explain? “I want to do something else, something no one expects. Take action all on my own, like a heroine in a story. Don’t you ever feel that way?”

Nellie shook her head. “There’s a purpose to following tradition.”

“That is why I need you. Your presence lends credence to the marriage. We will have a chaperone.”

“If I may speak boldly, miss, it is foolishness. Do you know him?”

“Enough to recognize that we are of one mind. We understand each other. We are both trapped. Don’t you see? This is my only escape.”

Nellie’s shoulders dropped. She was coming around.

“I need you with me.” Louisa took her by the shoulders. “Please. It is the right thing to do. Aunt Mary would wish it.”

“If anything is not right, you will come back with me.”

“I promise.” Louisa laid her hand over her heart to show sincerity.

While they swept the room clear of Louisa’s belongings, she imagined John’s disappointed face when he learned she was a married woman, settled comfortably in a cottage far away from Cornwall. She would never see him again, but she would write to his sister, tell of her marriage. When she expected her first child, she would inform the Lawrence family. John would be sorry.

At last, she made a choice for herself—and what a decision. Romance and adventure waited for her in only a few turns of the clock’s hand. Would Father miss her, be disappointed, or even care that she was gone?

Love was not exactly what she felt for Tobias, but she sympathized with him, which seemed far more important. Their singleness of heart would blossom into love. With her help, he would overcome the regrets of his past and bring her the happiness and contentment she had not found since her mother’s death.

Her trunk was packed, and her maid was ready to accompany her. A letter of farewell lay on her pillow, and she had only to wait for the clock to strike three in the morning.

“I have a pair of fast horses,” Tobias had said. “We will be out of reach by sunrise.”

Out of reach. The words were a balm to Louisa. No more waiting for John. No more futile attempts to find a match. No more acting as pawn for her father. No more hurt or struggle. Louisa would soon be free.

She who lends a patient ear to the praises of her wit and beauty, intends at first perhaps only to gratify her vanity. But when that spark shall be blown up by perpetual remonstrations of passion, and perhaps little romantic artifices, it will soon grow to an unquenchable flame, to ruin both of her virtue and honor.

The Whole Duty of a Woman, An Infallible Guide to the Fairer Sex, 1737