She Will Rejoice by Becky Riker

elbow.
                  They spent the remainder of the day indoors, reading and playing a card game Naomi had played as a child.
                  “Where did you learn this, Naomi?” Finn was studying his cards.
                  She played a set, “I am not sure. I’ve known how to play for as long as I can remember.”
                  “A governess, perhaps,” he played a card on top of her set.
                  “Perhaps,” she stopped playing to think about it, “but we only had one governess, Miss Diltmoore, and she left us when she found she was expecting.”
                  “Your governess was expecting?”
                  She laughed, “Not until she was Mrs. Garret, of course. She married our coachman when I was nearing my seventh year.”
                  Finn’s brow creased, “Were not romantic entanglements forbidden among your father’s staff?”
                  She shook her head, “I know it is not a common practice to allow them, but my mother never saw any harm in it.”
                  “And your father?”
                  “He was not home enough to give it any attention. My father spends most of his time in London.”
                  Finn folded his hand of cards down onto the table, “Is this how you see our life?”
                  Naomi was not sure what he was talking about.
                  “Me, spending my time in London while you and the children live apart from me. At Selby, perhaps.”
                  She did not care for his tone, but she spoke calmly, “We have never spoken of it, Finn. I do not know what to expect.”
                  He seemed only slightly mollified, but he picked up his hand and played again.
                  She played her last card and won the round.
                  He did not comment on her win. Instead, he returned to the conversation, “And you will not have a governess?”
                  Naomi drew the cards to herself in order to shuffle them, “Again, sir, I have not given it much thought.”
                  It occurred to her that she should keep her mouth closed while she was irritated, but she did not heed that soft reminder, “We all tend to think of domesticity in terms of what we knew as children, but, frankly, I had hoped to not marry a man like my father. How that alteration would change my home life, I didn’t know.”
                  Finn’s eyes narrowed, “What is wrong with your father? Was he a drunkard? Did he treat you roughly?”
                  “He just was not. . .” she searched for the words, but she did not know how to convey her feelings for her father.
                  “He was not. . ?” Finn prompted her to finish.
                  “Hmm,” she nodded as she folded the cards together once again, “that is actually the problem.”
                  “What?” he put his hand on the deck to prevent her from shuffling them any further.
                  “He just wasn’t.”
                  Finn’s jaw twitched in impatience.
                  “He was not there. He was not loving. He was not a father.”
                  Finn clearly understood at this point.
                  “He provided for us physically and ignored us.”
                  “Until he decided it was time for you to marry.”
                  “Yes,” she laughed softly. “Until then. I never had so much attention from him as I did when he determined I should have a tutor and new dresses, and I should spend less time with Asa.”
                  “I am trying to feel your sense of loss, but I confess I am glad he interfered.”
                  She