STRIDE:
Emma Carew,
Can this be you?
What kind of man
Is this you've taken?

Can you not see
The kind of life
That this would be?
You are mistaken!
Time to awaken,
Before it's too late,
Before you forever
Determine your fate!

EMMA:
But, Simon, you knew
I had to be free.
What I choose to do
Is decided by me!

From the day my mother died,
My father , full of good intentions,
Treated me as though I were a young child.
Maybe his idea was just to wait
Until I grew up,
And then look at me
And hope that I'd be her.

It's easy to accept that
From a father
He'd rather
Things remained the way they were.
But when it comes to marriage,
I must pick whom I prefer!
I am not the weak young thing
You're seeking, Simon,
Someone seventeen, obedient and sweet.
I am not the protégée
To waste your time on.
I'm complete -
In Henry's eyes I see
What I am meant to be! -


By Marininha