Willow Grove Abbey by Mary Christian Payne

you want to spend your life in a Dublin pub?”
    “ Spence is none of those things. Frankly, I doubt that he’s ever been in a Dublin pub.”
    M ummy picked up a Lalique crystal ashtray and threw it across the room. It splintered into hundreds of tiny pieces, as it hit the marble on the fireplace. She was in a total rage. She ran about the drawing room, picking up items and hurling them; Ashtrays, Sevres figurines, the Piaget clock. She was screaming and ranting in a ghastly harangue. In the past, I had never fought back, nor even tried to defend myself. However, I had a very deep love for Spence and it motivated me. “Mummy,” I began, “I’m a grown woman, and this is simply not fair. I have done nothing wrong. I have the right to see whomever I wish. I understand that you also have the right to form an opinion about any man whom I might care for, but you do not have the right to form such an opinion when you have never even met him. In my opinion, you are being bigoted and small-minded. Just be honest enough to look at the way you are behaving. Sometimes I really think you’re not normal.”
    All color drained from Papa’s face, and Mummy stood stock-still. No one in the family had ever spoken the truth aloud. It was simply not the done thing. Suddenly, Mummy screamed, an almost inhuman cry. “All right! That is it! You have always hated me. I have always thought that, and now I’m certain.”
    I stood, and for the first time in my life, I didn’t run. I looked my mother straight in the eye and spoke in an amazingly calm voice. “Mummy, that’s simply not true. Everything I have done all of my life has been proof to the contrary, and you know that is the truth. I sometimes believe you feel hatred toward all of your children, and I don’t, for the life of me, know why.”
    M ummy stood perfectly still. Her eyes bored straight into mine, for what seemed an eternity. Then, she slapped me across the face. My head literally snapped around from the force of the blow. I could not help but cry out, as it hurt dreadfully. Yet, I still refused to retreat and run, as I had done so many times in childhood. With tears streaming down, I said, “You can be so cruel. Why don’t you want me to be happy?”
    M ummy lost her mind. Picking up a basket of fresh fruit from an ornamental table, she bashed it over my head. Then she threw herself on the floor, curled like a small child in the midst of a tantrum, and screamed hysterically. I stood in horror. Meanwhile, Papa finally found his voice and managed to stammer his usual line, “Pamela, please...” Of course, it did absolutely no good. It never did. In fact, it had the opposite effect. It seemed to re-energize her. Leaping up, she grabbed the silver teapot and hurled it across the room at Papa. Thank God, her aim was off, and it missed hitting him by a fraction of an inch. Nevertheless, scalding hot tea flew all over the room. Some of it splattered upon my arm. It hurt dreadfully, but I just stood, rigid and immobile. I still have a small scar on my right wrist, where that damnable tea burned me. In addition, the Sterling teapot was severely damaged.
    Finally, she was worn-out. She stood, shakily, and held tightly to the back of a chair. In a controlled voice she said, “We shall never speak of this person again, Sophia. This Irish scoundrel. Catholic trash. You are not the grown woman you think you are. You are only eighteen years of age, and without your parents, you do not have a farthing. I shall ring the Countess of Winnsborough and arrange for you and Lord Winnsborough to make wedding plans immediately. You will find him attractive and very suitable, and when he proposes marriage, you will accept. If these plans do not meet with your approval, you are free to leave the Somerville family immediately and permanently. Doctor Spencer Stanton will rue the day he ever met you and turned you against your family. Your father has powerful friends, Sophia. It would be tragic