Nova blushed at the very notion, both for her own delicate sensibilities and for Reuben. Surely he wouldn't do marital things like that with a woman who was engaged to someone else? She didn't like to think he would do it at all with anyone without being wed to them but even she knew that not all men were pure and chaste. She didn't like to think it of Reuben but of all her brothers he was admittedly the most likely to. Why men did this, she didn't know, she had to put it down to some sort of instinct that was exclusive to men. The act was purely for procreation, to do such things with inappropriate ladies seemed nonsensical in the extreme for any sensible person. It was even more nonsensical for Reuben to brew a potion with the likes of Miss Finch who was engaged, it wouldn't just be irresponsible, it was a treacherous betrayal!
If that was the case then it summed up the likes of Miss Finch as someone who knew nothing of loyalty and was clearly lacking in intelligence. It couldn't be. Miss Finch would obviously be more at fault than her brother since Reuben wasn't the one with a prior attachment to someone else but he surely wouldn't do that? It was barely any better than the elopement itself!
"I- I don't- No, no he wouldn't. He wouldn't compromise a lady's virtue, he's not a malicious person. If it was possible... Miss Finch probably used all of her wiles not knowing what the consequences were of brewing..." That was a narrative she could just about wrap her head around, Miss Finch shamelessly seduced her brother with such determination that he succumbed despite his best effort to resist and when Miss Finch found out that her poor behavior was going to ruin her anyway, she blackmailed Reuben and dragged him down with her. But hadn't her wedding been very soon? If she was a wicked person then wouldn't it have suited her better to lie to her fiance and pretend it was his?
Agh. It was all speculation and Nova didn't know what to believe, only that Reuben did not deserve to be as maligned as he was.
If that was the case then it summed up the likes of Miss Finch as someone who knew nothing of loyalty and was clearly lacking in intelligence. It couldn't be. Miss Finch would obviously be more at fault than her brother since Reuben wasn't the one with a prior attachment to someone else but he surely wouldn't do that? It was barely any better than the elopement itself!
"I- I don't- No, no he wouldn't. He wouldn't compromise a lady's virtue, he's not a malicious person. If it was possible... Miss Finch probably used all of her wiles not knowing what the consequences were of brewing..." That was a narrative she could just about wrap her head around, Miss Finch shamelessly seduced her brother with such determination that he succumbed despite his best effort to resist and when Miss Finch found out that her poor behavior was going to ruin her anyway, she blackmailed Reuben and dragged him down with her. But hadn't her wedding been very soon? If she was a wicked person then wouldn't it have suited her better to lie to her fiance and pretend it was his?
Agh. It was all speculation and Nova didn't know what to believe, only that Reuben did not deserve to be as maligned as he was.
