Family

One of my few regrets about my relationship with W is that I don’t have any family members I can look forward to introducing him to.

He has siblings who are all wonderful - warm and friendly and smart and funny. Sophy's delight on finding out W and I were together was so heart-warming! W cooked dinner for the Crofts and I and Sophy gave me a long hug when I arrived and kept smiling all night. Mr. Croft seemed confused about it, but once W reminded him that we had dated before, he shrugged and told W that 'however he had managed to get me, he was a lucky fellow'. 

In contrast, my family is so.... unwelcoming and so focused on their own stuff, it’s constantly embarrassing. Wentworth is rich and successful enough to meet Dad’s approval (not that it matters - nothing anyone says is keeping me from W this time), but Dad had to make remarks about the fact that W earned his money and position rather than having it as a birthright, which is - whatever, it’s Dad, it’s how he is. Wentworth is annoyed by it but now he knows that my Dad’s views are not mine and I live my life guided by my views, not my family’s. Being in company with my family is strange. W does his best to be friendly and charming and patient, Clara takes her cue from Elizabeth who is friendly but not overly so. And Dad values W mostly as someone new to listen to him talk about himself. W's furtive side glances at me whenever someone says something exceptionally stuck up or ridiculous makes it really hard not to burst out laughing.

W also has a large circle of good friends - and by good I mean, good people and good company. I really only have a few close friends these days - Lacy and Alicia, and some back in [place name redacted].

Speaking of friends, when W found out about Alicia’s investment problem, he immediately called his lawyer who wrote a threatening letter to Will’s company. The lawyer predicts the shares will be released in a week at most. Alicia of course loves W now, almost as much as I do. Fingers crossed for Alicia, she could use a change of luck!

W’s year off comes to an end in three months. He says his goal for the year was to spend time with friends and family and to recharge, find new inspiration. His previous start-ups are going well and he is itching to start something new. Lately he’s been saying he wants to take me away somewhere for a month or two - a cabin on a tropical beach or a house in a tiny French village.

I told him his timing was terrible.

Of course, I've been telling him about my non-profit project. He’s given me some great, practical advice on starting up a new venture. He also offered to fund it. 

It’s incredibly generous of him, and it may be that by rejecting his funding, I won’t be able to start, but… I don’t want to put that burden on our fledgling new relationship. I also want to find a stable funding source that is earned by the merit of my project - though I know those are rare and I’m probably being overly idealistic - but I have to try. I've got a meeting set with Ms. Dalrymple in early March to pitch it to her. With Jane and Emily’s help and W’s polish and business savvy, I’m confident I’ll get her on board and it will be so much more satisfying to do it this way.

So the plan for now is to stay in Bath, and at some point transition back home together. The future is a bit up in the air, but W is reaching out to his contacts in [place name redacted] to explore some ideas and see what opportunities there are. He likes the idea of being closer to his siblings. I asked if he minded picking up his life and moving across the country and he laughed and said his life was here already, all that was left in the other city were his books.