Discovering Emily Read Online Free PDF

taste,” drawled the man’s voice. Emily bristled. Too wild? What did he mean? She loved the forests and ocean around Victoria. How could anyone think they weren’t beautiful?
    â€œWhy, yes,” a high pitched woman’s voice added. “In England and France the elements in a landscape arrange themselves into a composition. Here, nature is so vast and unruly, one does not know where to look.”
    â€œI do know what you mean,” said Dede’s careful voice. “Wildness is one of the drawbacks of living in the colonies, but I do think we have done very well with what we have here.”
    â€œIndeed,” the man’s voice agreed, though he sounded unconvinced.
    Emily could stand it no longer. She leapt into the doorway, her fists balled at her sides, her face red with outrage.
    â€œSnobs!” The word burst from her. “If you can’t see what is in front of you, you’re both blind!”
    â€œEmily!” Dede’s face was dark with shock and anger. “That is enough.”
    Emily clamped her mouth shut. Suddenly, she felt shocked herself. She hadn’t meant to burst in. She hadn’t meant to say anything. She stared into the faces of Dede’s well-dressed guests. The man leaned back in his chair, his hand holding a teacup, frozen on its way to his mouth. His face had a twisted look as if he couldn’t decide whether he should be angry or amused. The woman’s eyes had narrowed from surprise to disapproval.
    â€œEmily, you must apologize to our guests at once!” Dede said.
    Emily was silent.
    â€œEmily,” Dede repeated. Emily heard the cold warning in her voice.
    Emily looked down at the floor. “I am sorry for speaking rudely to you,” she said. Then she added, “And I’m sorry for you.”
    â€œSorry for us?” asked the man with a laugh.

    Emily wanted to say she was sorry that they were such stupid snobs, but Dede glared at her. “I mean only that I am sorry you can’t appreciate the beauty of Canada,” she said.
    The man made a “humph” sound, and the woman looked shocked again. Dede darkened even further.
    â€œYou must excuse me for a moment,” she said to her guests as she got up from her seat and marched toward Emily. She took hold of Emily’s elbow, pinching tightly, and led her from the room. Emily knew she was in trouble now. But she didn’t care. What horrible people! If that’s what real artists were like, how could she ever be one?

11
Dede’s Revenge
    When Dede told Father about Emily’s rudeness, he decided she should go without supper again. If she missed many more suppers she would not need the corset to have a tiny middle, Emily thought to herself. Still, she did not regret her words to the horrible artists. If they were what art was about, she didn’t want to have anything to do with it.
    Several days later, Emily was still smoldering from the memory of the snobby artists. Dede noticed her dark looks.
    â€œFor heaven’s sake, Emily. You aren’t still mad about the Smiths, are you?” Dede asked, her hands on her hips.
    â€œThey didn’t know what they were talking about,” Emily complained.
    â€œOh, they didn’t, did they?” Dede’s face set into firm lines of decision. “You wait until Saturday, and you will see.”
    Emily wondered what Dede could mean. The look on Dede’s face made Emily feel a sense of dread as she waited for the weekend to come.
    â€œI’m taking Mrs. Lewis for a drive,” Dede announced Saturday morning. Dede was always visiting elderly or invalid people like old Mrs. Lewis. Often, in warmer weather, she hitched up the horse and buggy and took them for drives along country roads, but Emily wasn’t sure where Dede would be taking Mrs. Lewis on a cold November day.
    â€œAnd Emily is coming too,” Dede added. Emily’s insides felt suddenly heavy. She had been