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He was the one who caused all this. Isabel wished he could come back to life so she could throw things at him. Someone needed to pay for their current situation, and the man responsible was dead.
“Look, Isabel, I know it might sound like you can’t manage in Society …”
“I know I can’t! I’ll be a laughing stock!”
“But it is entirely possible to teach you,” Lady Dunley carried on calmly. “You’re very good at picking up things, so teaching you to behave properly shouldn’t be a problem. That can be handled. With the right tutelage, you can take London by storm.”
Isabel snorted.
“You have more faith in me than I do.”
“Do you really want to go into servitude?”
“Of course I don’t, but what other choice do we have if I’m the only option?” Isabel ran her hands through her hair, wincing as her finger caught a pin. She thought she had taken all of them out. She tugged the stray pin out from her hair and tossed it onto the table. “I don’t like the idea of being a maid, or even a companion if I’m very lucky, but it’s either that or we’re stuck. We’ll lose everything.”
“Not necessarily.”
“What do you mean?”
Lady Dunley stood up and squared her shoulders.
“I’ve been giving it some thought, and I’ve come to a decision.”
“Am I going to like it?”
“Please, Isabel, let me get this out.” Her mother took a deep breath. “I should have been more forceful in what you studied. I should have made sure you focused on what was important as well as what you loved. That would make things a lot easier. But I didn’t, and I’m responsible for that.”
“You didn’t push me to study what I didn’t like, Mama.” Isabel protested. “You only wanted me to enjoy learning. And I did. I still do.”
“Which, I hope, is going to work for you.” Lady Dunley folded her hands in front of her. “I’m going to make a deal with you, Isabel, and I want you to consider it carefully. We spend one Season in London. Just the one. I’ll use whatever money we have left to make sure you have the proper dress styles and get you lessons in social etiquette and the like. Anything you need to make you a desirable young lady.”
Isabel stared.
“But ... I thought the money was meant to go towards the debts.”
“I still have control of that money, and I have no intention of paying anything off when it’s not my debt to take on.” Her mother took a deep breath. “I’m going to use it to train you to become a young lady in Society. You will go into London and find yourself a gentleman with money who wants to marry you. If at the end of the Season you have not received a proposal from a desirable nobleman, then you can pursue a paid profession.”
For a moment, Isabel let the words sink in. Her own mother was offering to get her lessons and turn her into a lady fit for Society? She wasn’t sure she had heard her correctly.
“But ... what about you? You won’t be Lady Dunley anymore. You’ll just be Mrs Moore.”
“I’m keeping the Lady Dunley title, whether your cousin likes it or not.” Lady Dunley lifted her chin. “It was my title for twenty years, and I’m not giving it up because a young upstart is taking everything away from me.”
Isabel couldn’t help smiling at that. Her mother was the quieter one out of the two of them, but she was sharp when she needed to be. She turned over the offer in her mind.
“So, all I have to do is find myself a husband. You’ll help me become a proper lady, and I find a wealthy man to marry.”
“Yes.”
“And after one Season and there’s nothing, you’ll let me find a profession?”
“That’s the deal. But you need to do the work first.”
That sounded fair enough. Isabel didn’t like the thought of going into servitude, but she didn’t like the idea of being coached to be a young lady of Society. However, it was a better option than being degraded into becoming a companion or a maid. It didn’t sit well with her at all.
Just one Season. She could manage one Season, and then she would never have to enter it again. Not as the centre of attention, anyway. She could manage that. She took a deep breath.
“All right, Mama. I accept.”
