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“And doing what, might I ask, my lady? Buy a cottage by the sea and breed cats?” Connie asked the question flippantly even though it was something she had begun to consider.
Lady Adelaide laughed loudly over that question, but then sobered. “And why not? If you were able to successfully traipse about the continent, I don’t see why you couldn’t make a success of that as well, if it were something you wanted.”
“But that’s just it, I don’t. Want it, that is. I do enjoy my travels. It is true that it becomes lonely at times. But I would imagine the cottage by the sea might be even more so.” She couldn’t have even explained why she was arguing. Somehow, she just couldn’t yet admit aloud to the secret wish.
“Well, there are usually neighbours,” the viscountess replied tentatively.
“So the same with travelling,” Constance countered.
“Well, that’s good then.” Lady Adelaide surprised Constance with her sudden about face. “I just wanted to ensure you were still happy with your choice. If you weren’t I would put my thoughts toward helping you.”
Constance laughed lightly. “What do you think you could do to change my circumstances if you found I wasn’t as happy with my situation as I had wished for?”
“Why find you a suitable husband, of course.”
“Do you truly consider a husband to be the solution to all of life’s woes? That’s putting rather too much pressure on a poor man, isn’t it?”
“For the right one it wouldn’t be too much pressure,” Lady Adelaide insisted.
“Perhaps,” Constance allowed, “but I believe I ought to be able to find my happiness within myself and solve my own problems. If I then choose to wed with someone, that would be a happy addition, not the solution.” They strolled in silence for a moment before Connie turned to her hostess with a frown. “If this is your view, what sort of dilemma were you in that your husband saved you from?”
“I was trouble,” Lady Adelaide replied immediately. “I was always sticking my nose in the wrong situations. Out of boredom, I suppose. But falling in love with Adelaide provided me all the action I was craving.”
Constance smiled over the woman’s gleeful tone. The way she said it, marriage sounded delightful. But Connie’s sisters seemed miserable, and their lives were drudgeries despite the supposed life of luxury one of her sister’s had married into. It all just went to prove that nothing was a guarantee.
“Are you expecting any more guests to arrive?” Connie asked, to turn the subject and prolong the conversation.
“Yes, I am, a few more. Mr. Alcott wasn’t the last straggler to arrive.” Connie fought back heat that wished to flood her cheeks over the other woman’s pointed words.
