Emily could not have been born in a more inauspicious year or under worse circumstances. Her mother and several other members of the family, caught Spanish flu and died. Poor Emily was wet nursed by the hounds until her father took a new wife, three monthes later. Even after that, the second Sabbat Civil War further thinned out the family. Emily grew up practically unnoticed as those around her attended to more important affairs. When they did, finally, take notice, Emily was thrust into the bed of her stepuncle, Gerard. Her sister, Henrietta, was similarly forced into marriage with their half-brother Esmond, all in the name of repopulating the household.
She served as wife and mother as best she could, woefully unprepared for any of it and without much guidance, given the number of the family's women lost to sickness and violence. Always present, though, was the watchful eye of the matriarch and it was to she that young Emily was forced to turn for advice. While harsh and unforgiving, Marie-Thérèse provided the assistance she needed and time passed. She grew fond of her husband but felt distanced from him by the circumstances of their marraige and his outside pursuits. Feeling trapped and alone, her only solace was her close relationship to her siblings. She and Henrietta supported each other through these difficult years and Beranger, who had broken free to serve the family in New Orleans, was always welcomed home warmly for his company and his stories of the outside world.
The Camarilla attack in 1970 changed everything. Both Henrietta and her husband were killed in the attack, as was her stepmother, Louise. Beranger was unable to get away from the city, given the turmoil there, and by the time her did, the matriarch had already claimed poor Emily to act as her agent. While the damage was barely noticeable in those first days, as years passed, it became more apparent and more extensive. Never a woman of strong will or self-image, the domination by Marie-Thérèse has robbed her of most of the personality she had and has utterly destroyed her will. She is little more than a puppet and will cease to be of any use to her patron in only a few more years.
Émeline never wanted anything more than to be loved and cared for. Now, even that simple desire has been subjugated with all the rest under the oppressive will of her Tzimisce domitor. She now acts as her puppet, bringing her edicts and commands to the rest of the family and enforcing them during the daylight hours. All that she is now is a reflection of the personality and desires of Marie-Thérèse.
Émeline's relationships now mirror her domitor's. Her close relationship with her brother and even her relationship with her children have fallen apart in favor of the matriarch's detached authoritarianism. Even her husband relates to her entirely as if he were dealing with the matriarch rather than the woman he married.