She didn’t know what she had been expecting him to say in response to that, except perhaps a damning I’m sorry too. But he had chided her for it instead, which was more comforting than Jemima had imagined. Some people would presume she had trapped him into marriage, especially the more reluctant he seemed about it – and Jemima would not be able to change anyone’s conceptions of that, but it made enough difference to her that he knew she hadn’t intended any such thing.
A part of her still worried that he would resent her for the marriage somewhere down the line, if not now; but there was nothing to be done about that except to try as best she could. So she mustered a smile back, and latched gratefully onto his change of conversation. “Yes,” she agreed, and stood up, almost relieved to be moving, and by a question that was at least, finally, an easy one to answer honestly. “It’s too cold to sit there in the winter, but I can show you the sunroom.” It was not a conservatory on a grand scale by any means, but the small glass extension at the back of the house was a cosy room the girls usually lounged in, reading or embroidering, through the summertime. “It has the nicest views of the garden. My sister Delilah – she moved home, after her husband passed away – she’s planted all sorts, so it looks lovelier than ever,” she explained, with new brightness. It would look even better by May or June, when everything started flowering – but Jemima supposed she would have to admire her sister’s gardening projects on visits, because she would no longer live here.
A part of her still worried that he would resent her for the marriage somewhere down the line, if not now; but there was nothing to be done about that except to try as best she could. So she mustered a smile back, and latched gratefully onto his change of conversation. “Yes,” she agreed, and stood up, almost relieved to be moving, and by a question that was at least, finally, an easy one to answer honestly. “It’s too cold to sit there in the winter, but I can show you the sunroom.” It was not a conservatory on a grand scale by any means, but the small glass extension at the back of the house was a cosy room the girls usually lounged in, reading or embroidering, through the summertime. “It has the nicest views of the garden. My sister Delilah – she moved home, after her husband passed away – she’s planted all sorts, so it looks lovelier than ever,” she explained, with new brightness. It would look even better by May or June, when everything started flowering – but Jemima supposed she would have to admire her sister’s gardening projects on visits, because she would no longer live here.
