The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion: Vol. 4

The next morning, Emma attends church, where the Duke of Islington joins her in her pew. Reverend Hawkes delivers a pointed sermon about hypocrisy, retelling the biblical story of the woman taken in adultery but recasting the setting as The Drunken Duck and the lead accuser as a judgmental duke. The reverend proceeds to list 53 verses on the topic of hypocrisy. Islington surprises Emma by bursting out laughing and then offering her a sincere apology for his behavior. He says he was worried for her safety, and his expression suggests he’s thinking of someone else from his past. They agree to a bargain: He will reread the 53 verses if she reads a piece of scripture Hawkes indicated may pertain to her, John 8. Later, Emma creates a list of personal mysteries, questioning Islington’s motives and her friends’ pasts. A footman returns the coat she left at the dance hall, which Islington retrieved for her.

Emma meets with her banker, who surprises her with afternoon tea. He confesses that his wife, Rebecca, was so displeased with his professional negligence in allowing Cousin Archibald to squander Emma’s inheritance that she insisted he actively help her. Emma deposits a large sum from her tenant, Pierce, covering advance rent for both his flat and his new studio. Penury praises the rate, and Emma notes that Pierce himself suggested it. They review her budget, and Penury urges her to find paid work, though he also suggests an advantageous marriage is her most practical solution. Emma firmly rejects this, stating her intent to remain a femme sole, an independent, unmarried woman. Penury asks her to list her skills so he can assist in her job search. When Emma leaves, she finds a message of female solidarity from Mrs. Penury tucked into the flowers the banker gave her.

Seventeen letters arrive for Pierce, and Emma concedes the mail basket’s usefulness. That evening, Cousin Archibald resumes taking his meals in the dining room, and he and Emma share a tense dinner. After a brief, caustic exchange where Archibald complains she has “curdled” his peas, he throws his spoon at her. To avoid further conflict, they agree to dine at separate times.

Emma receives a letter from Arabella, summoning her to a weekend party at Mulberry Hall, the country estate of their acquaintance Lady Harlow. The party is scheduled for the 27th of the month. Emma writes back accepting the invitation.

Emma’s cousin, Lord Damian Spencer, visits Lapis Lazuli House to investigate whether she was the dancer with a bird’s nest in her hair he saw at The Drunken Duck. Emma dodges his questions, neither confirming nor denying her presence there, and steers the conversation toward his financial problems. After Damian leaves, Emma is horrified to discover that Agnes has put the bird’s nest from her costume on display in the front hall, where Damian likely saw it.

Saffronia March, a professional artist and a protégé of Emma’s late father, returns from her travels and visits Emma. They discuss Saffronia’s adventures in France and Italy. Saffronia, who says it would take “an impossible man” to convince her to marry (66), invites Emma to visit her studio that Sunday.

Emma attends a fitting with her dressmaker, Madame Tasset, because Lady Eugenia has commissioned an extensive and fashionable new wardrobe for her. The clothes are meant to elevate Emma’s status and reflect well on Arabella, reinforcing the family’s social standing. Emma successfully negotiates for less restrictive bustles and the inclusion of some simple, practical blouses and skirts for wearing around the house.

After a church service led by a substitute curate in Reverend Hawkes’s absence, Emma visits Saffronia at her home, known as Thrush’s Victory. In Saffronia’s studio, Emma looks through sketchbooks from Italy. They speak about Emma’s father, Declan, who died seven years prior, and her mother, who died only a few months after. Saffronia expresses regret that she was unable to take Emma in at the time, but Emma assures her that she wouldn’t have wanted to leave her family at the time. Emma lights a candle for her father that evening.

Emma receives a formal invitation for tea from Mrs. Penury. Puzzled by the invitation, Emma contemplates the lack of social precedent for such a meeting. She humorously tries to find guidance in her knowledge of other silent women from history and literature, such as Julian of Norwich and Shakespeare’s Lavinia.

Fifteen more letters arrive for Pierce. Later, Emma has tea with the silent Mrs. Penury in her Mayfair home. Unsure of the etiquette, Emma launches into a long, candid, and somewhat chaotic monologue about her life, her friends, and her various troubles. Her speech makes Mrs. Penury break her 10-year silence with a snort, followed by unrestrained laughter. Afterward, they sit and read Emerson together companionably. Before Emma departs, Mrs. Penury gives her an affectionate kiss on the forehead. That evening, Emma invites Pierce, who has chronic pain from an old leg injury, to dine with her. Agnes expresses her disapproval of the arrangement because it’s considered improper for an unmarried woman to associate with an unmarried young man without a chaperone.

While preparing for her trip to the country, Emma exchanges notes with Pierce. He asks if he might have left his pocket watch in her dining room. This reminds Emma of her father’s own beautiful watch, which was destroyed by a horse a month before he died, an event she now sees as an omen. After she tells him the sad story, they wish each other well until her return on Monday.

Emma arrives at Mulberry Hall, where the hostess, Lady Harlow, overrides Lady Eugenia’s attempt to make Emma share a room with Arabella and grants her a room of her own. Emma learns that two young men are expected for dinner: Her childhood friend Roland and Charles Goddard, an awkward man her aunt intends for her to marry. Arabella confides that Charles is forbidden to propose until Arabella herself is married, giving Emma at least a year of freedom. Throughout dinner, Charles sends unsettling smiles at Emma from across the table.

Emma recounts an incident in which Charles fell into a lake. She insists that she didn’t push him and that he slipped while trying to help her regain her balance.

After dinner, Charles corners Emma and subjects her to a long, breathless monologue about his detailed plans for their wedding breakfast and their future, which includes having 10 children. Overwhelmed, Emma stomps on his foot to create a diversion and escapes. Later, she and Roland compete in archery. Emma wins their contest, which means Roland must give her a book. She nonetheless tells him about Charles’s plan for them to have 10 children, though she refuses to share the full details of the wedding breakfast monologue.

At Sunday service, Charles sits close to Emma and attempts to take her hand. To escape him, she pretends she is about to be sick and flees the church. She spends the next several hours reading Emerson in a nearby field. To ensure her escape from Mulberry Hall is free of Charles, Emma secretly writes a note purportedly from Charles to Lady Harlow, asking to extend his stay for another week.