Resolution: Day 11

Word Count: 66,006

Summary of Events:

Georgiana was insulted by the mother of her older sister's boyfriend, who had called to speak with Georgiana's mother — and thought she had been doing so. Shelton called the police to answer some questions and ended up realising he'd been attacked and robbed while semi-conscious. Afterwards he went to see Georgiana and they talked a little bit about their wedding before moving on to other topics . . .

Excerpt of the Day:

“Well, have you talked with any of your sisters since?” Georgiana asked.

“Loretta came in and had tea with me yesterday,” Shelton replied.

“And what does she think of me?” Georgiana asked.

“She thinks you’re too poor,” Shelton replied. “Although we spent more time talking about me than you.”

“Why you’re not breaking it off?” Georgiana asked.

“Yes,” Shelton replied. “That somewhat.”

“Somewhat?” Georgiana asked.

“Well, she asked me a rather compelling question I still haven’t really figured out the answer to.”

“And what is that question?” Georgiana asked.

“Why do I want to be in the army?” Shelton replied.

“You don’t actually know why?” Georgiana asked.

“Well, I do somewhat,” Shelton replied. “I’ve always wanted to. I mean, yes I went to a school that required a uniform, but a military uniform is different. There’s a . . . prestige, a sense of honour, something bigger, something beyond yourself. People respect you when they see you in a uniform like that.”

“Does it maybe come from the fact that your parents don’t listen to you?” Georgiana asked. “You want to be in the military because the uniform commands people to listen without saying a word?”

Shelton shifted his jaw and looked at Georgiana. “All your quiet observation gives you time to think about things like that.”

“Well you’ve outright told me you don’t feel like your parents listen to you,” Georgiana said.

“Even still,” Shelton said. “That’s something I like about you. You’re smarter than a lot of people give you credit for. You just need to get more confident in saying what you see, I think it would make you more friends than enemies.”

“I don’t look foolish, do I?” Georgiana asked.

“No,” Shelton replied. “But seeing how you don’t really make yourself well-known, like Pearl, people don’t necessarily notice you or expect you to do anything. Some probably even forget that you’re there.”

“So what I just told you might surprise people?” Georgiana asked.

“Absolutely,” Shelton replied. “I wonder if Mother and Father might be more inclined to like you if they realised how unsuspectingly intelligent you are.”

“I don’t know if we could convince them,” Georgiana said. “They’d either just have to observe it of themselves or have someone else whose opinion they regard speak highly of me.”

“You really don’t think we could convince them?” Shelton asked.

“No,” Georgiana replied, shaking her head.

Shelton sighed.

“Just like everyone else who’s opposed to our marriage,” Georgiana sighed.

“Everyone else?” Shelton asked, looking completely confounded.

“Yes,” Georgiana replied. “There’s a couple women in the church who aren’t happy I’m getting married. I don’t even know why. But I don’t mean to tell them I’m marrying you, I don’t want them to suddenly change their minds and approve just because I’m marrying the son of a judge. I don’t think it should matter who I’m marrying. They should be fine with my getting married even if I were to marry the son of a milkman.”