Today's Embrace

Chapter One London Marriage Dinner Ball at Brewster House June 1900 Evy thought she would not be surprised by the tide of dissension that came rushing toward her after her whirlwind marriage to Rogan Chantry, heir of Rookswood Estate and future squire. Though the brewing storm was not of Rogan's making, inevitably it came, like large swells responding to outside forces. Rogan had always been a controversial young man who attracted attention and made things happensometimes, whether he wished it so or not. Women seemed drawn to his arresting personality, as Evy had noticed from an early age. Evy saw it as both a gift and a distraction. While he was maturing as a young man, surface relationships had sought him out relentlessly enough to press him into his protective armor. Now she was finding that his solitary independence often shut her out, his own wife, causing her no end of frustration. The storm began blowing into their lives at Lord and Lady Brewster's opulent mansion in London where a dinner ball was under way in celebration of the unexpected marriage. Her biological father, Lord Anthony Brewster, had arranged it in order to introduce his daughter to his grandfather, Lord Brewster. Many from the aristocracy were there, some because of Rogan himself. Perhaps it was natural that he would end up "shocking" them by marrying the "rectory girl" from Grimston Way in place of Lord Bancroft's daughter, Lady Patriciaand "so suddenly, too." Those words should have warned Evy of what was to come. But being impressionable, and overflowing with happiness, she'd been unprepared for the cruel chatter instigated by Patricia against their recent union. Evy had married Rogan Chantry at Rookswood Estate in Grimston Way a week earlier and was thrilled with the sights and sounds of the London she had never experienced. There were theaters, balls and dinners, shoppingoh, the wonderfully exciting shopping excursions Rogan brought her on, buying her everything fashionable and beautiful. And this was only the start of their honeymoon before going on to Paris! Large chandeliers glimmered on the high-domed ceiling, dispersing light onto the wine-colored velvet draperies. Golden bowls and Italian vases were filled with fresh-blooming roses. An intricately woven rug with thick golden tassels was flaunted in the center of the room. Surrounding it sat an assortment of velvet chairs, divans, and ottomans. At the far end of the salon was a large window overlooking a sloping front lawn. Rogan gathered with the gentlemen in the salon, where it was customary for the men to drink a glass of port and share cigars after dinner before the ball. Evy, unaccustomed to such male traditions, remained in the salon, standing apart near the window. She looked up and wondered at the outright scowl of the departing Lady Willowby, but she attributed her expression to indigestion. The dinner had been exceedingly rich. Evy looked into the florid faces of the well-fed members of Parliament. Lord Brewster, Anthony's grandfather, stood alongside him and Rogan. Her great-grandfather was a pompous old man with a narrow forehead and wide, sagging jowls. He was in his eighties, but his small gray eyes were still clear and sharp. They beheld her with emotional distance as Anthony introduced her to him as his daughter by Katie van Buren. As the evening wore on, Evy continued to feel embarrassed and out of place. She didn't know what she had expected upon coming here. Rogan had warned her at the Chantry Townhouse not to expect warm, family relations to suddenly sprout after all these years. In fact, he had actually wanted to decline the invitation altogether, but Evy had protested for Anthony's sake, since he had wanted to introduce her to his side of the family. "I want yoChaikin, Linda Lee is the author of 'Today's Embrace', published 2005 under ISBN 9781578565153 and ISBN 1578565154.