Page 4 of A Mismatch Made in London

Would I enjoy the time away from the country, attending parties in London? Or would I long for my siblings, my mother and father, and the comfort of home?

Perhaps it would have been better if Lavinia was the oldest girl. She would have been much more objective about making the best match. But for good or ill, I was the one on whose shoulders the rest of my siblings’ futures depended.

2

“Algernon returned to town a week ago, so you will see him right away,” Mrs. Kendall said, as we traveled in their carriage toward London.

I smiled to show I was listening.

“You two were good friends as children, were you not?”

Mr. Kendall had looked as if he were asleep, his head leaned back against the seat, lolling back and forth when the road was bumpy. Now, the way he lowered his head and looked over his spectacles seemed skeptical, although I wasn’t sure if that was his intention.

“We were very close in age,” I said.

“As close as a brother and sister.”

I didn’t contradict her, but Algie had been mostly cross as a child. We did play together sometimes, but more often we quarreled, and Algie ended up sulking and demanding to go home, while I preferred to play with my siblings. Still, as we grew older, we saw each other less frequently, and we became better friends for it.

I had secretly pitied him, as he was an only child. He must have been so lonely without brothers and sisters to keep him company. His mother had had several stillbirths, which seemed to put the burden of the family name—and his mother’s happiness—squarely on his shoulders.

It was a bit in the same way that my family needed me to make a good match with someone who could help my brothers make connections—for Jonathan to receive a good living as a rector and my other brothers to find good positions—and help my sisters make good matches, as their dowries would be too small to make them attractive. My family was depending on me for their happiness, and I couldn’t disappoint them.

But Algie was more of an unlikeable cousin than a potential husband, whatever my mother or my aunt thought about it.

We arrived in London exhausted but happy—or my aunt and I were. I rarely could sense what Mr. Kendall was thinking or feeling, as he said very little and his expression rarely changed.

I was given my own room at their London townhouse. I was thrilled at the thought of so much privacy and freedom, but whether from loneliness or because of the noises in the streets outside my window, I hardly slept at all that first night. How strange to be alone in a room without the heavy breathing of my sisters to lull me to sleep. I’d been to London twice before, but I’d forgotten just how noisy the nights could be.

I wondered if Diana had been able to fall asleep without me there to rub her back. Would she cry and think I’d abandoned her?

Was my baby brother sleeping better tonight, or had he kept everyone awake again with his crying?

These next three or four months were supposed to be filled with pleasant parties, dancing, flirting, and becoming acquainted with new people. Instead of enjoying it, was I destined to be sad, missing my family and my home?

“This dress will do until the seamstress can finish your new one.”

Aunt Kendall drew out my best dress and held it up to my chin. “Yes, you’ll look very well in this if I lend you my cross necklace. I’ll send the servant to dress your hair in an hour. Inthe meantime, I want you to memorize these names—young gentlemen to whom you should pay special attention if you meet them. I will do my best to arrange introductions.”

“Yes, Aunt.”

Mother had sent me with a sum of money to buy new dresses, but I suspected my aunt was adding to that sum so that I would look fashionable and have the quality of clothing that would make me the equal of any young lady in London.

She was looking at me with a mixture of sober intensity and gleeful imagination, as if she were picturing each person as she mentioned them.

“First is Thomas Trowbridge. His family has an enormous estate in Westchester, and he seems eager to find a bride. He’d be an excellent catch, as he is the oldest and only son and so will inherit everything, including his father’s title of viscount.”

A viscount? Surely my aunt knew that I was not in the same social circle as a titled peer of the realm. But I supposed she must think it possible that I would make such a match, as she and Mr. Kendall were in his social circle, and if a viscount fell in love with me, he might not care that I had no fortune.

While alternately looking me directly in the eye with her piercing focus, Aunt Kendall also rummaged through my glove box as she talked, holding up various colors of ribbon against my hair and dress.

“And there is the Duke of Pennington, who is not the most handsome, but what of it? He is a duke and has multiple estates, and if you can distract him from the gaming tables, he might be able to keep all of them. In truth, he’s already lost a small fortune and can’t seem to help himself, but some of the other lords have been trying to help, distracting him in an attempt to prevent him from losing any more of his inheritance. After all, his is a very old family, and one needs to preserve the stability of England’s lands and inheritances. The nobility depends upon it. Mr. Kendall and I both feel that if he had a wife—both his parents are deadand he has no siblings—then he’d stop spending all his time at the gaming tables.”

Thank you, Aunt Kendall, for thinking I might rescue a duke from his gambling habit and therefore do my part to save England’s nobility. But being sacrificed to a man who couldn’t control his gambling, even if he was a duke, in the hopes that I might do him some good ... No thank you.

Iwasthankful she told me about his character flaw.

I smiled and nodded, encouraging her to go on.