She submits to the idea of her future life with Edwin with resignation, accepting that “this is how things are done” in her time period. Rosa has had enough encounters with her music tutor to sense an unnatural attentiveness in his behavior, and for it to build her up into a state of prolonged anxiety. She is more concerned with property than Edwin, refusing to make a scene when he demands she play the piano for them all, lecturing him on leaving without informing anyone (and scaring them all), and being aware that John Jasper “has feelings for me.” She pours out her heart, fears, and anxieties to Helena upon a short acquaintance, and assumes she speaks for Edwin Drood as well when telling him they needn’t marry. She asks what real love feels like, wonder if she’s in love (she isn’t sure), and then seeks permission from the family lawyer as to whether or not she can break the engagement.
But as the day grows closer, Rosa begins to question whether she wants to marry him at all. She tolerates it, because she wants to honor the dead memory of their fathers.
Rosa has built her life around the expectation of fulfilling their fathers’ wishes for herself and Edwin, by agreeing to a marriage she isn’t sure she wants.
