Emily had been staying at the Bukaters’ while Victoria was away in Europe on business. For Rose, this was a chance to be with the sister she never had. Right away, however, she noticed that Emily was not like her in any way. Unlike Rose, Emily was afraid to do anything that ventured out of the ordinary. For example, when it snowed, Emily was afraid of playing in the snow. She had to be hit with a few snowballs to finally get the hint that they were supposed to throw them at each other. Perhaps what alarmed Rose the most was the fact that Emily had to take a medication to keep her calm. This worried Rose. Why? Because she could see what the world was trying to do to her sister. Perhaps what Emily couldn't understand about Rose was that she was always so happy, and that happiness must be the only thing that she knew. To Emily, Rose's world was always happy, and she had a loving, kind mother.
Emily's adoptive mother, Victoria, could sometimes be mean to her, saying things like, "Emily, if you do not pour your tea correctly, I will punish you harshly by striking you with the rod twenty times. Do you understand me?"
Usually, Emily complied. The first time Victoria struck her, she cried out, saying, "Oh, Mother! Stop, please! I didn't mean to do it."
Emily was oftentimes chided over her dress as well. One time, her pinafore was put on crooked. Victoria unbuttoned the article of clothing and made Emily do it again herself. She cried over having to do this.
The thought that her sister might see her medications gave Emily such a terrible fright that she burst into tears when Rose saw them. Rose lent a comforting hand and Emily hugged her, saying, "I hate taking this. My father makes me." Emily opened her trunk, showing Rose her corset. "Mother makes me wear this. It hurts me when I wear it. Your mother at least tries to make me comfortable when she helps me with it," Emily said as she began to smile.
Ruth entered the room and asked Emily to put on her corset. "Emily, I think it's best if I continue your waist training. Your mother will be gone for several months, and she has asked me to help you."
"All right, Mrs. DeWitt Bukater," Emily said as she closed the front of her corset. She grabbed the post on the bed and Ruth pulled.
"Does that hurt, dear?" she asked.
"No. It doesn't hurt me. You do it more gently than Mother does it."
"Emily, you know I'm friends with your mother. She always speaks so kindly of you in her letters. She loves you." Rose watched as her mother pulled the laces at Emily's back. Soon, it was going to be her turn. "Rose, I will help you next. Sadie would have done it, but I asked her to do something else," Ruth said, turning back toward Emily.
"Mrs. DeWitt Bukater, can I call you Mother, since you are technically my mother?"
"Yes, but only here in the house," she said as she gave Emily a kiss on the cheek. Emily felt good around Ruth, almost as though she knew that her mother was like herself at that age.
During tea in the Bukater household, Ruth and Rose normally sat in the dining room and talked to each other in low tones. Oftentimes, the discussion of the day would be what Rose had learned in school. When Emily was staying at the house, however, the subject was Emily herself. On this particular day, Rose asked Emily what her normal routine was when she was at her own home in Piermont.
"Oh, well, I get up around 8:30 in the morning. Mother assists me in my dressing and then we eat breakfast. I usually stay home while she goes to the city to shop. She usually doesn’t brings me with her, and I wish she would," she said as they continued with tea.
"Emily, how does your mother lace your corset? Is she a tight lacer? Does she want to achieve a small waist for you, or is she training you because you are of age?"
Emily blushed. "I do not wish to talk of this subject. Can we talk of something else?"
"Emily, what Mother is trying to ask you is whether are you comfortable with how your mother does it. I know you like how my mother does it, for she is gentle in how she does it," Rose said.
"Emily, I noticed that you have medicine to take. I would just like to know what time you need to take it. Do you take it at bedtime?" Ruth asked.
Emily grew tense and choked up. "I...I...I…I don't like to talk about it," Emily said, embarrassed.
Ruth sensed embarrassment in Emily and backed off the subject, possibly saving it for a bedtime discussion. "I just want you to feel your best," Ruth said.
At bedtime that night, Ruth sat on Emily's bed. "Emily, as your mother, I'd like to ask you about the medicine. I know you don't like to talk about it, but please, for your own sake, I'd like to know your dosing schedule so that you may feel your best," she said as she brushed a few stray hairs from Emily's face.
"Mother, I dislike taking the medicine. If I don't take it, I get really excitable and, well…well, my other mother dislikes that. She told me that I needed to start acting like an adult, and that things like dolls and teddy bears are for little children. I like playing with paper dolls. I have a whole drawer full of them. At least she doesn't know about them.”
"Well, Emily, I must say her parenting technique is different. I still do not understand why you talk down about her. She loves you very much, and I do, too. I think that she spoils you because she cannot comprehend that you have needs like everyone else. I saw your room a few weeks ago, and it shocked me. Your bed is very large, and your closet is almost a separate room. What I think is that you've been put on this because they don't understand you, darling. I do, and I want you to be free. You should be like a little girl."
Emily finally relented. "I take my medicine at breakfast. Mother lets me wind down at bedtime."
With that, Ruth kissed Emily on the forehead and turned out the light. Emily drifted off to sleep.
The End.
