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“Won’t it be mostly members of the ton?” Lucy pointed out.
“Who said that an intelligent and accomplished woman such as yourself isn’t worthy of an advantageous match?”
Lucy sighed. She knew that she couldn’t fight against her aunt, who had made sure that she was taken care of ever since her parents had died in a carriage accident almost ten years ago. Lucy had never told Aunt Joan that she didn’t plan to marry. Nor did she have the heart to. Her aunt loved her. She couldn’t see how Lucy didn’t fit in with anyone. Aunt Joan was utterly blind to Lucy’s faults, and as such believed that she could marry any man or gentleman that she set her sights on.
“I’m going to write back to Viscount Thornbridge immediately, to let him know that we will certainly be in attendance!”
Lucy watched her aunt leave the room. She knew it hadn’t been easy for Aunt Joan, who had never married. She had always had to depend on the kindness of her relatives. When Lucy’s parents had died, Aunt Joan had stepped in, and they had both lived on the small income that her father’s estate had left for their care.
She knew that her aunt only wanted what was best for her. But Lucy enjoyed their life, now. She didn’t want to marry. Men, or gentlemen, for that matter, could not be trusted. After the ink was dry on the paper, a woman had very few choices but to do as her lord and master said. Lucy meant to be her own mistress.
She turned back to her painting. The apples were beginning to look like perfectly red jewels, as if one could reach into the painting, pick one up, and take a bite. She knew she had talents, but she’d had the misfortune of being born female. Thus, she could only be accomplished—never an actual artist.
Lucy could read, write, and draw. She could speak four languages, and she had opinions on everything, from the arts to politics. She knew that she had been prepared to be a wife, and that disappointed her. Aunt Joan would be sad if they didn’t go to Lord Thornbridge’s estate. Aunt Joan so rarely asked Lucy for anything, that she would have to acquiesce.
