“Yes, I would like that. But will you have time? It sounds as though you will be very busy with both local and international tours comingup.”
“That may be so, but a young lady needs to let her hair downoccasionally.”
Linton seemed to hesitate but shyly said, “Emily, it cannot be a mystery to you that I have deep feelings foryou.”
Emily felt a comforting warmth surge through her body. “Yes, Linton, I known. And I have a lot of affection for you as well. But it is not a good time for me to be thinking about any sort of an extended romance or even friendship. My whole life’s dream is unfolding before me and I have no idea where it will lead, or even how long it will take me to getthere.”
“And what does that mean for us?” heasked.
“For me, it means that I value your friendship and company and, whenever I can, I am happy to spend time with you, but I do not feel it is fair to lead you into thinking that anything can come of it for now. My life is toouncertain.”
Linton was clearly disappointed. “But eventually? Might there be a future down theroad?”
“Perhaps. But you know that my burning priority has always been my career. And now, I am on the brink of accomplishingthat.”
Linton sat silently for several minutes and focused on his tea, before asking, “Might I ask you afavor?”
“Of course,” Emily said, hoping it would not be something embarrassing that she could notgrant.”
“Your sister,Teresa…”
“Oh.” Emily expected she knew what he wanted. “I think you will find she is infatuated withyou.”
“Exactly. And while I enjoy working with her, she is starting to become a nuisance with her constant pleading for my attention. It is beginning to become a problem for me. Do you think you might have a word with her? I know it is asking a lot, but I fear it might jeopardize our workeventually.”
Emily gave that some thought and said, “I might have an idea about how to redirect her interestelsewhere.”
“Thank you. Anything you can do to help the situation would be greatlyappreciated.”
He signaled to the waitress that he wanted thebill.
“I should let you go,” he said. “I know how busy you are. And thank you for coming to tea withme.”
Emily took his hand. “It has been lovely. Thankyou.”
“Then you will consent to see meagain?”
“Of course, why ever would I not? You promised me another visit to the café and we still need to put together what we willplay.”
Linton smiled broadly. “Oh, excellent. Then there is hope for meyet.”
Chapter 25
Dinner was stressful. Everyone knew that in less than an hour Spencer would appear to be introduced to the family. Ruth could barely eat, and Papa was hunched over his plate, not looking at anyone and only grunting when asked aquestion.
The tension made Mother fidgety and Teresa withdrawn. Only Emily maintained any façade of normalcy by tossing off one line comments throughout the meal in hopes of stimulating some kind of genteel dinner tableintercourse.
But near the end of dinner Ruth abruptly rose, brought her handkerchief to her face to hide a rush of tears, andescaped.
Emily excused herself and went to comfort Ruth and discuss some sort of a strategy for presenting Spencer to thefamily.
Ruth was in her room sitting on the side of herbed.
Emily came in, closed the door and leaned back againstit.
“Ruth, my dear, you must pull yourself together. How do you plan to convince Papa of your intentions if you are blubbering and sputtering like a brokenfountain?”
Ruth looked up with red eyes and a blotched face. “Oh, Emily…” she wailed. “I cannot bear to lose mySpencey.”
