Emily Rich was born into an aristocratic family. She began going to sea with her father at the age of three, and inherited a viscountcy at seventeen, becoming what the entire upper class saw as a "ticket to a comfortable life."
They approached her for her money, her title, a life of luxury, and a vast estate.
They criticized her riding posture, her clothes, her wealth, her looks, her work, and her character.
They called her arrogant for coldly refusing their marriage proposals.
I have seen the sea. In the darkness of night, towering black waves whipped up by the gale roared against the ship. The mast swayed, the hull groaned, and lightning struck the water.
My hands have gripped hard reins, rowed a wooden oar through the waters of Venice, and brushed against a cold flintlock.
How could I be afraid? How could I make peace?
From the opera Emily Rich
No romance.
Theme: Stay true to yourself and refuse to follow blindly.
