Chapter 11
The following weeks met Knox getting herself situated in town, she had a hard time adjusting to doing without most of the amenities that she was used to, but given that she was not given to hysterics, she made do with what she had. She was able to get a goodly sum for the jewelries she asked George to pawn off but he instead went to the bank instead to get a loan using the jewelries as collateral and after considering the interest rate and how she could pay back she readily agreed with him that a loan was best. Knox thinking as usual like a business woman decided to utilize her talent for fashion not knowing when she would be able to return to her time or if at all she could and secondly, she wanted to prove that arrogant son of a bitch no offence to Olivia wrong. She made a purchase of a shop with an apartment where she could retire to upstairs, and went about making arrangements to open a shop including ordering for bolts of fabrics, laces accessories and the like and even hired the help of 3 women who came with good recommendation.
Meanwhile, Olivia was not happy with the present situation of things as she no longer had anybody to mother or talk to. She kept on giving Gerard the silent treatment which only changed after she heard that Knox was opening her business. It further cemented her opinion that she was not marriageable for her son as a peer of the realm, for ladies did not work, they kept their home but it did not stop her from admiring Knox for her personality and carriage while in her home for she was well behaved. This led her to turn her attention back to Emily, the chit would have to do, she then made a call on her at their home to which the latter was absent and left a message for her to see her when she could, preferably for tea.
Gerard on his own kept an ear for news of Knox and as usual got his ears unnecessarily full of the unwanted part of it, for as per her good works Knox was becoming quite popular with the ladies for her good eye for fashion and her incredible designs. Her unorthodox methods of measurements and even her strange additions to the clothes all made for the ladies clamoring for her attention to change their wardrobes and the men lamenting their draining coffers. But as usual Knox can never be pushed around as many of the ladies soon learned that she couldn't be pressured into what she did not want to do, which was making new wardrobes in too little time, she gave her time according to how she could meet up and not when they wanted. Her workers appreciated her more and did their best to do their work the best of whatever task given. She was generous to her workers albeit strict when it came to producing results. Much to Gerard's chagrin, the men were also sniffing around her skirts as many wanted her to be their mistress, this made some of the ladies unhappy as some of their husbands were rumored to be among such men.
Knox long since immune to gossip and the stigma that came with it, paid no mind as the ladies soon learned for those who thought to embarrass and demean her were thrown out of her shop on their ears and soon wished they kept mum as she refused to do business with such women again. In her spare time she visited with George telling him more stories about her time, they even made more trips to her ute to got through her things and bring in more of whatever she needed. While she repeatedly turned down the men, there was one persistent man who refused to take no for an answer, she knew his likes and she was always firm and polite, no need to aggravate a self entitled man and give him fodder for attack. His name was Langley, the earl of Lansdowne and he refused to take no for an answer for he had women whether they wanted him or not. Used to getting his own way, he got fed up and started to resorting to threats to get Knox to yield yet she called his bluff and told him everytime to his face and anyone who would hear that she was not interested and would never be anytime soon. This only aggravated him more and decided that he would teach her a lesson in obedience but he did not want to attack her business and she may have to leave town and that was not what he wanted, he had a plan to use her and soil her name for all to see and bring down her pride so she never carried her shoulders so high or look down her nose at him for she was taller than him which irked him to no end.
As soon as George heard of Langleys intentions he informed Knox to be careful around him that he wouldn't take no for an answer and has resorted to deplorable means to make a woman submit to him as there has been rumours of such before. While Gerard decided it was time he made himself known as a presence in her life if men like Langleys was hanging about. He timed his visit for the lunch hour when she most likely would have no customers and her workers would be out getting their own lunch for he knew this conversation might be unpleasant.
On the other hand Olivia had tea with Emily where she decided to broach a long overdue subject of what happened between her son and herself to cause their falling out, while Emily was shocked she quickly recomposed herself thinking of a lie to put in place for it was obvious that Gerard didn't shame her before his mother, so there may still be hope for them yet, she then told his mother that he claimed he was not ready to be married at the time and because she loved him so much, she agreed to set him free but she travelled away for the news of their broken engagement to die down, she said this in between sniffles to curry sympathy from Olivia, who fell for it and consoled her that she would make sure her son did right by her and do it soonest for she wanted her grandchildren which would be a big dilemma for Emily for she had contracted one of the bad diseases from one of the men she had been seeing and as a result her womb was taken out to save her life, she shuddered to think what would happen if her would be mother in-law were to discover such, no she would deal with this issue when the time came for it. She just had to get married first.