Chapter Thirteen
Once back home, Elizabeth was immediately caught up in the manifold arrangements for the double wedding. Her mother was beside herself, so flustered with a myriad details that Elizabeth thought she must have a seizure if she carried on that way. Somehow things got done as the great day dawned. But there was one task that only Elizabeth could complete, one thing that she must do before her wedding day. She resolved that it should be approached the next evening.
Accordingly, when she was seated at her dressing table, and had discussed with Nell more details of her clothes, what should be packed for the honeymoon, what still needed some attention, whether of repairs or the fitting of new things, she broached the topic that could no longer be avoided.
“Nell,” she said, “whe
