Josephine decided it was her task to make sure Emily didn’t dance with a partner too insistent or experienced for the girl, and helped her sister select the right ones. She noticed that George’s younger brother Tom seemed appropriate, as he appeared to be as shy as Emily.

            As things turned out, it was just as well she was keeping watch. Josephine gave Mr. Andrews, a pushy nabob from Canton, a piece of her mind for making Phyllis cry. However, she was quite startled when the man’s nephew Robert offered for her. She certainly knew better than to take the fellow seriously.

            However, Mr. Andrews apologized both to her and to Phyllis, though he sent her youngest sister the flowers. Jo somehow failed to mention that part to Mr. Dominic a few days later, and he seemed quite upset to find a possible rival in his path.

            They argued so much over her receiving attentions from another that Edward swore he would have to marry her just to keep her out of trouble. Jo coolly pointed out that she wasn’t the one who had acquired a ball in his leg the night of the festivities. Flustered by her comments, he ended up apologizing for not being able to kneel and proposed to her right there in the garden, still strewn with decorations from the party. Josephine accepted on the spot. She assisted her beloved inside so they could receive Mama’s blessing, which Lady Carstairs gladly gave. Once that was done, Edward muttered some words in Latin that Jo had to pretend not to know. She smiled though, as he explained he would have to leave on a short trip, which she learned later was to France.

            Unfortunately he never returned. When Phyllis left for Canton a few years later, Jo accompanied her in search of a way to fill the emptiness of her life. She certainly did not expect to find another to love. However, she could not but feel favorably towards her new fiance the moment she saw him teaching the loathsome Robert a lesson in fisticuffs. She never returned to England, but didn't mind.

End

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