Bath Tangle Part VI

A few days later, Serena is waiting for Emily to come to her house to go riding when she gets a message from Mrs Floore. She goes to her house and finds the older lady is quite ill. She is very fat and has had a shock which brought on a heart spasm. Mr Goring, her godson who is part owner of one of the businesses owned by Mrs Floore, is there and they manage to calm the poor lady and find out what has happened. She is wildly upset because Emily has run away with Gerard, and Rotherham is coming to Bath. Mrs Floore says that she wont let Emily marry him if she doesn't care for him, and is so afraid of him, but that if Emily elopes with a young man like Gerard, running away from her engagement with a high ranking noble like Rotherham, it will not do her reputation any good. Mr Goring is very fond of Emily and more tolerant of her immaturity than Serena has been but he agrees that the first thing to be done is to find Emily and stop her from eloping. Serena is a good rider, and she and Mr Goring decide to set out and ride after them... Gerard has hired a post chaise but he is not well off and probalby wont be able to go to Scotland very fast. Hector has just come back to Bath, and when he visits Fanny, he tells her that he feels that Serena is still attached to Rotherham, because she seems annoyed that Emily has made him look foolish by jilting him and says that it isnt fair that Ivo should be jilted a second time. Fanny says that Serena did break off her engagement to Ivo, and he has never been lover like in his manner towards her, treating her just as a friend and often being rough and rude with her. Fanny begs Hector to stay with her, as she's afraid of facing ROtherham, if he comes to the house to seek for Emily...