On p. 20 of Ch. 1, we read how the widowed Elizabeth Parker, at age 38, eloped to Gretna Green with a man 17 years her junior! How scandalous this must have been! But why would they have needed to go to Gretna Green to marry? Would the groom, at age 21, need his parents' consent? Would it be, perhaps, because they wouldn't have to announce their banns and have tongues wagging weeks in advance of their marriage, but instead just present their community with a 'fait accompli'?

And then Elizabeth's brother refused to speak to her for six years afterward. Surprising and shocking as the marriage must have been, it's hard to imagine that was necessary!