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“It is neither here nor there, really,” Sir John replied evenly. “As there isn’t a single thing I can do about it. The fact remains that I have very little left to my name. Thanks to that, I fear, I must marry some wealthy heiress, and soon.”
“Well, it is rather hard to give up a carefree bachelor existence such as you and I have enjoyed these past five years, but I suppose that is always the way of things sooner or later?”
“Yes,” Sir John agreed blandly. “Unfortunately, I am afraid it is now sooner.”
“No need to lookquiteso grim, old boy,” Lord Henderson told him bracingly. “The Season is just beginning and the prospects are rather lovely. Wasn’t I just saying the other day that this Season’s crop of young ladies is even more fetching than the usual lot? We’ll have a grand time picking a most attractive one for you.”
“Appearance may not be such a great consideration as all that, if you take into account my most pressing reason for marriage,” Sir John pointed out, but he felt a little cheered in spite of himself.
“No reason you cannot fall in love with some tender young thing who is in possession of both beauty and wealth, now is there?” asked Lord Henderson reasonably.
“I imagine it would be decidedly easier to do so, as beauty and wealth are the two main hallmarks of any woman’s claim to a man’s affections, are they not?”
“So cynical, Ashbrooke.” Lord Henderson exclaimed laughing.
“No, I do not think so. I am simply being practical and speaking plainly. While it would certainly be preferable to find an heiress who is simultaneously wealthy, lovely, pleasantandcharming, I must acknowledge at least to myself, that wealth is the most vital criteria.” Sir John grimaced even as he spoke, still not resigned to the necessity of matrimony.
“We shall see, my friend.” Henderson laughed again. “We shall see.”
* * *
3
Lady Charlotte twirled in her silken gown, bouncing on the balls of her slippered feet in front of the ostentatious full-length looking glass. It had been imported by her grandfather and made of Venetian glass in a gild frame. It showed off Charlotte and her dress most spectacularly in the light of the candelabra. She was beyond excited. This was not just any ball. This was Almack’s.
“Well? Will we do?” Lady Charlotte asked her mother, who was inspecting Charlotte and her sister Helen as closely as if they were soldiers preparing to venture into battle, rather than debutantes embarking upon their first ball of the Season.
“You look stunning. Both of you,” Jane, the Lady Keegain, Charlotte’s new sister, pronounced.
“I believe so,” the Dowager Keegain decided finally, with one last critical survey of the two lovely strawberry blonde girls. Helen’s hair was a slightly cooler shade than Charlotte’s, and less prone to rioting curls, but they were so close in age and height that they were often mistaken for twins despite the year separating them. Having them both come out the same year had been a deliberate choice on the part of the Dowager, who had felt that Charlotte’s irrepressible nature needed another year of tempering before she would be ready to enter the marriage mart. And besides, the two sisters were bound to make a sensation in fashionable society with their simultaneous debut.
“I am positively green with envy,” sighed their youngest sister, Alice as she watched them dress. “It feels as though I must wait an eternity for my own Season.”
“Another year or two will hardly kill you,” Helen consoled her. “As a matter of fact, I believe I would trade places with you just now. I am so nervous, I feel nearly unwell.” She placed a hand on her stomach.
“Nervous.” Charlotte looked at her sister in amazement. “What on earth is there to be nervous about?”
“I suppose it is because in the past I have always had Margret at my side,” Helen ventured.
Helen’s friend, Lady Margret Fairfax, had been married just after Christmas, and Charlotte was understanding, even though she never thought highly of Lady Margret. Charlotte’s own friend Jane Bellevue had been married as well, but as Jane had married Ruddy and was now their sister, she would be present this Season. For unmarried support, the sisters would have to rely on each other.
“Now, I shall be at your side,” Charlotte said firmly. She caught Helen’s hands and squeezed them. “Think of all the handsome, interesting gentlemen we shall dance with in just an hour’s time. Think of all of the fascinating people we will see and speak with. Not to mention the new gowns, which are enough to be thrilling all on their own.”
Charlotte’s sunset pink dress was exactly her favorite color and the gold thread embroidering her collar and bust depicted a garden of darker pink poppies. Her younger sister’s gown was similarly embellished with silver thread and silver buttons, but the shimmering fabric was rich turquoise.
The modiste had out-done herself on the girls’ dresses, and the dowager had spared no expense upon the new silk gowns lavished with imported lace and exquisite embroidery.
The choice of which gown to wear this evening had not been a difficult one for Charlotte. She knew she would wear the pink, as soon as she saw it, but Helen dithered.
“Mother ordered so many new gowns. I am sure we shall not wear the half of them,” Helen said.
“Of course, we will,” Charlotte insisted. “We cannot be under-dressed.”
Their mother shook her head., smiling with pride. “You are the daughters of an earl, God rest your dear father,” the dowager said. “He would be filled with pride at your debut.”
Helen smiled and ran her hands nervously over the smooth silk. “With my luck, I shall trip and fall at Lady Jersey’s feet.”
“You shall not,” her mother assured her, and even if you did, Lady Jersey is not the dragon she is made out to be.”
