The Regency Ballroom: Miss Evelina Hartwell
Miss Evelina Hartwell
You, Miss Evelina Hartwell, are the daughter of a respectable but anxious family, lately returned to Bath for the season.
At a private card party in the Upper Rooms, you discover a letter tucked inside your reticule.
It is not addressed to you.
The letter is written in a gentleman’s hand and contains language too tender to be mistaken for friendship. Worse still, it names you as the object of his affection.
The gentleman in question is Mr. Laurence Ashford, heir to a modest estate and already understood to be courting another lady, Miss Selby, whose fortune would secure his family’s debts.
If the letter becomes known, Miss Selby will be humiliated, Mr. Ashford may be ruined, and your own reputation may suffer by association.
Yet the words are sincere. He claims he has loved you since last winter, but has been pressed by family obligation into a match he cannot honorably desire.
You have admired him in silence.
Now you alone possess the proof of his heart and the means to destroy his prospects.
Modes of Behavior
The Romantic – Return the letter privately and confess that your feelings are not indifferent.
The Prudential Lady – Burn the letter and withdraw from his company before gossip has time to gather.
The Strategist – Use the letter to force Mr. Ashford into making his true intentions known before witnesses.
The Sacrificial Friend – Deliver the letter to Miss Selby, allowing her to decide whether she will release him or expose him.
The Silent Heart – Keep the letter hidden, say nothing, and allow the engagement to proceed.
Note from the Drawing Room
“In matters of love, silence may preserve a reputation, but it seldom preserves a heart.”
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