Emily Of New Moon

One day at Wyther Grange, Aunt Nancy asks Emily if her Aunt Laura has considered marrying Dr. Burnley. Emily replies that she hasn’t, and Nancy and Caroline talk about the drama of Dr. Burnley and Ilse’s mother from long ago. Emily is intrigued to finally hear the story that her aunts and others have carefully avoided discussing around her.

Nancy explains that Ilse’s mother, Beatrice, was much younger than Ilse’s father and was a flirtatious girl before they got married. She was close with one of her cousins, Leo Mitchell, and some people thought they were in love with each other. One night, someone said they saw Beatrice on board Leo Mitchell’s ship before it set sail, and the ship later sank with everyone on board drowning. Everyone, including Dr. Burnley, believed Beatrice had run away with Leo Mitchell, leaving Burnley alone with his baby daughter Ilse. This is why Dr. Burnley hates women so much and ignores Ilse.

Emily is horrified by this story and refuses to believe it. She spends much time thinking of alternate explanations of Ilse’s mother’s disappearance. It weighs heavily on her mind, and she finds she can’t even write about it to her father or in the notebook Cousin

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