“I wish to ensure I am doing nothing nefarious.”
She did not seem impressed by my logic but probably thought she wanted to sell her item more than I wanted to buy it. That put her at a disadvantage, which I was beginning to suspect she knew, though I had no idea how I came to that conclusion.
She sighed and finally gave her story. “My father’s estate is entailed, and I have no brother. My mother is terribly worried we will be thrown out to starve in the hedgerows when my father dies. My elder sister came out at fifteen, and my mother wants me to do the same.”
I gasped. It was not unheard of in the country, but not common either. It would be suicidal in town, but country rules were different, I supposed.
My curiosity was aroused. “Go on.”
“My mother is convinced we all need to be married, since that is the ‘only respectable way to be free from want.’ She insists I come out and ‘catch a husband,’ as she puts it.”
I was dismayed, but hardly shocked. “Fifteen is young to be at the sport.”
“I agree. My sister is seventeen, has been out two years, and is five times prettier than anyone else in the country, so it all seems pointless. Nobody will look past her to me anyway.”
“If I may be so bold as to suggest, you have no idea how beautiful you will ultimately be. You have not had a chance to grow into it.”
She shrugged as if her beauty was a point not worth debating, and to tell the truth, I had already stepped at least a yard over the line.
“You do not want to come out? Is that it?”
“No sir, I do not. Who would?”
I chuckled because I had been in society for several years and at least half-agreed. “And?”
She sighed resignedly. “I made a bargain with my mother. If I could find enough money to support our family for a year after my father passes, I may delay my entrance until seventeen.”
That startled me and raised my curiosity. “How difficult was that?”
“The argument or the task?”
“Let us start with the argument,” I suggested, for no other reason than to satisfy my curiosity.
She grimaced. “Imagine a stone arguing with a rock.”
She was clever for one so young.Stubborn too, apparently.
“And the task?” I asked gently, presuming it was not going well if she was meeting anonymously in town with a gentleman without her guardians’ consent.
She gave a resigned sigh and began her tale.
“I spent months reading the entail documents and speaking with one uncle, who is a solicitor, and another who is in trade. I thought there might be a way to break it that my father never bothered with.”
“It seems unlikely, but worth a try,” I replied, impressed with her gumption. I knew plenty of fully educated sons who would have given up without even trying; and of course, there is always a chance of improprieties or mistakes in the entail documents.
“I suppose,” she replied glumly. “I played in the attics extensively as a child.”
I had a difficult time keeping a neutral expression, since she wasstilla child.
She stared as if she could read my mind, though I doubt it was all that difficult. “I found the item we came here to discuss, verified it is not on the inventory… and… well, here we are.”
“Yes, here we are, so I suppose we should get to business.”
She looked relieved that the interrogation was over, and I seemed willing to accept her bona fides, which was not a given. We both had reputational concerns, and even though I was a man, I was not entirely impervious to gossip.
With some obvious nervousness, she handed me a polished wooden box she took from a valise.
I opened it carefully and gave it a brief inspection. The item was spotless and recently cleaned. It easily verified its validity by a well-defined but not very visible scratch on the handle.It was what I sought.
