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Marcella didn’t entirely agree. Surely, even if her betrothed had a likable personality, she still ought to be allowed a refusal if the two of them were simply incompatible, as some people were. But at the moment, it was enough that Adeline, sweet and dependable, supported her choices.
“I cannot marry him. If I do, I know that I’ll never be an accomplished writer,” Marcella said. “There will always be some other matter to attend to.”
It turned her stomach to think of it! She imagined her long mornings spent at her desk, writing letters containing idle pleasantries. Then, there would be the management of the servants, her husband’s needs, the balls to be prepared, and the children to raise. It all sounded so utterly exhausting that Marcella was quite sure being a good wife would be the death of her soul.
“Do you think so?” Adeline asked.
“I know so,” Marcella insisted. “I could never be happy with such a life, and that’s even assuming that my husband would find writing novels an acceptable pastime for me! You know that most lords wouldn’t. What do I do, then?”
“Write anyway?” Adeline offered.
“And do what when my husband complained? Insist that I am going to be a great novelist? It would be a constant fight and so utterly tiring.”
“It does sound so,” her friend admitted.
“Well, it seems I’ve this engagement to manage.”
“And how do you intend to manage it?” Adeline asked, as they began a leisurely stroll down the garden path, lined with lush, flowering grasses. “Both your father and His Grace seem set on it, and I doubt that either will have sympathy on you.”
“I must try,” Marcella insisted.
But that’s a futile effort. I’ve never seen my father change his mind about even a small matter, much less one like this. And I doubt that the Duke of Mavis will agree. I wouldn’t know how to approach him with the matter anyway. He is my father’s dearest friend, too. The marriage between us was decided from the moment we were born. And I can’t depend on my intended breaking the engagement.
“And if your efforts are all for naught?” Adeline asked. “What will you do, then?”
“Then, I suppose I have only one solution. If my intended refuses to break our engagement, I’ll have no choice but to convince him that marriage to me is a terrible idea. I’ll be so vexing that he’ll break the engagement, and then, I’ll be free to become a writer like I want to be.”
“You can’t possibly do that!” Adeline exclaimed.
Adeline said that, but her eyes shone with mischief, as if it was a wonderful idea.
Marcella’s lips curved into a small smile. It was poetic in a way. Hadn’t she been trying to find a new story, one which wasn’t a man and a woman marrying and having a happily ever after? What better story to change than her own?
“I promise you this, Adeline,” Marcella said. “I will be the worst woman to ever walk the earth. My dear betrothed will break our engagement in a few months’ time, and I’ll finally be free to do as I please!”
