Bookish and awkward didn't really sound like someone who schemed and brazenly seduced people's brothers. That was disappointing, it would have made her feel a little better to give more ground to her own suspicions. "I believe they've been acquainted for a while, but Reuben never spoke of her to me." There was another sore point, while her relationship with Reuben was hardly that of two close sisters they had always had a different dynamic than with their other siblings but he hadn't said anything. She saw this as another warning sign that she'd been the driving force of it all but she couldn't ignore that Aldous had said they'd been friendly for some time.
"Everyone assumes the worst of him." People weren't too kind about Miss Finch either but no one would believe a man would be cowed into a marriage by a woman and really she deserved it if that was what had happened. "I cannot believe my brother would ever elope, even if he was desperately in love. He would marry her honorably or not at all." Ophelia probably thought she was being naive but it was the truth and it felt good to say it out loud. Reuben might not always make wise choices but in the end she thought he was just like the selfless men in her novels who would rather break their own hearts than disgrace the heroine.
"Everyone assumes the worst of him." People weren't too kind about Miss Finch either but no one would believe a man would be cowed into a marriage by a woman and really she deserved it if that was what had happened. "I cannot believe my brother would ever elope, even if he was desperately in love. He would marry her honorably or not at all." Ophelia probably thought she was being naive but it was the truth and it felt good to say it out loud. Reuben might not always make wise choices but in the end she thought he was just like the selfless men in her novels who would rather break their own hearts than disgrace the heroine.
