Bath Tangle Part VII

Serena and Goring catch up with Emily and Gerard and a scene ensues. Gerard knows that Emily is not in love with him and is eloping with him largely to avoid marrying Rotherham. She is nervous and weepy, and not sure what to do. When they meet at the Inn, Goring tries to reassure her, and tells her that if she does not want to marry her fiance she need not do so but she must not elope with someone. Emily dreads her mother.. but she dreads Rotherham. Goring tells her that Mrs Floore wont let her be forced into a bad marriage.. and in the end Emily agrees to go home to face her fiance and Mrs Floore. Serena is rather cool to her, (another reason I dont much like the hero and heroine of the book) but she does feel a little sorry for the girl. When they get back to Bath, Ivo and Lady Laleham are there to receive Emily. Lady Laleham tries to persuade him that Emily was just being silly and that she has now gotten over her fright. Ivo by now does not want to marry her but it is almost impossible for a man to reject an engagement. HOwever Mrs Floore comes in, dressed in lavishly adorned clothes, and makes it clear that she does not intend her grand daughter to be forced into a distasteful marriage. Ivo tells Emily that he will expect her to learn to ride and to become hostess of his house. Emily loses her nerve and says she can't do it, and breaks off the engagement. Mrs Floore asks her if she would like to live wiht her in Bath, reminding her that she would not be in high society there because she herself is middle class and not a grand lady, and life in Bath is quieter than London. Emily says she doesn't care, she loves her grandmother and would be glad to stay with her. Lady Laleham says that she washes her hands of Emily, if she chooses to live with Mrs Floore, but Goring assures her that she will have other offers of marriage when she is a little older and more mature. It is clear that he is a little in love with her and will probably offer for her in a year or 2. Emily hands back her ring to Ivo but he returns it to her, and tells Goring that he hopes they will meet again later. He leaves the house and goes to Serena and Fanny's home, where Hector is trying to keep Fanny from worrying. Serena goes upstairs but Ivo tells her that he was trying to break off the engagement, by pushing Emily towards Gerard. He did not think she would go so far as eloping, but he realised that he had made a bad mistake in marrying her yet also knew that Lady Laleham would not want her daughter to break off the engagement. Serena is furious at Ivo's chopping and changing and how it nearly caused a scandal which would have damaged Emily's reputation. Ivo tells her, however that as soon as he met Kirkby, he could see that he was not a suitable husband for Serena and that they would break up, as their engagement was private. He knew that Hector was fascinated by Serena, and trying to live up to her expectations but he wasn't really in love wth her and they would not be happy as she would never be happy in a small country manor with a quiet gentle man for a husband. Serena is outraged but Ivo adds that Hector has not been in love with her now for ages, he has been in love with Fanny. She realises that he is speaking the truth and that she had grown irritated with Hector's gentler nature, and longed for Ivo. She asks Fanny why she had not said anything sooner and she and Hector break off their engagement. Ivo tells Serena that he knew he had made a bad mistake, but it was very difficult for him to get out of it. He had dashed into an engagement with Emily because she seemed malleable and infatuated with him and he felt that if he could not marry Serena he didnt much care whom he married. But when he realised that Serena was not likely to marry Hector, he had to try and cut himself out of the tangle. He tells Serena he will not defer to her as Hector has done and will enjoy their battles. Fanny and Hector are relieved that they are now free to marry in due course, and Serena and Ivo plan to marry in private and go abroad, for the rest of the year of mourning....