"Well," Michael said, "we'll eventually get all the Geldings, and that includes Suzanne. She probably had no clue when she married Tom that she signed up to be hunted like the rest of them. I'm guessing she was looking for someone to take care of her, someone with money. I have no idea why he decided to take her on. I don't see that she can offer him much outside of the bedroom, but I don't know the woman either."
"To hear the boys tell it, Suzanne's one strong suit was 'entertaining,'" Angus said.
"Well, if Ruby were giving it much thought, she would realize that Suzanne had to lower herself considerably to be worth it to anyone, while Ruby managed to find a decent, upstanding guy who happens to have a number of very sizable bank accounts and who loves her for who she is and never asked her to lower herself in any way. Seems to me that she doesn't have to compare herself to Suzanne for any reason."
"Well, you're right, Michael," Angus said. "She doesn't really know there's that much money. She knows I have enough, but I've not ever really told her, and she's never asked. She does know that someday, I will inherit all of Edward's things too, and since she's seen the main house and a little of the land, I think she knows its considerable. She doesn't know how considerable it is."
"So she honestly doesn't know that you're very well off and on track to be exceptionally wealthy?"
"No, and I think that would just add more pressure to her at least right now. I'm hoping that as she works with Jeffrey, she can find her way to not being so fragile, but that's her choice."
"Well, you know we're here for whatever you need," Michael said.
"I do know. Thanks."
Jeffrey listened to Ruby as she tried to figure out how to be less anxious. "Well, yes, that is what I'm saying. Look, we all talk to ourselves in our heads all the time. If you can train yourself to be more aware of just how often you are saying negative things or fear based things to yourself, you can train yourself to be less anxious. You can also train yourself to be aware much earlier of when you are anxious and then you can decide if you have a reasonable need to be anxious or not. For example, if you become aware that you are becoming anxious while you are talking with Angus, you can decide that there is no one there that is presenting a threat and, if you make that decision early enough, you may be able to take just a deep breath and calm yourself straight away before the anxiety gets escalated our out of control."