‘Grandmother said you did not like him,’ Charity said.
‘I do not claim to,’ Hope answered. ‘But I do like these candlesticks. It is nice to see them back in the family.’
‘And it was very nice of Mr Leggett to find such a handsome man to retrieve them,’ Charity said with a sly smile.
‘I had not noticed,’ Hope lied.
‘Then you are either blind or deliberately obtuse,’ Charity said.
‘Hmm,’ said Hope, turning to the window to watch for the arrival of his coach.
‘Of course, he is little better than a servant,’ Charity added.
‘It is unworthy of you to say such a thing,’ Hope said. ‘Our own father was a servant to the Lord and Mother was the daughter of Comstock’s man of business. If Papa did not have a problem...’ She turned back to continue the lecture and saw Charity grinning at her agitation. ‘You were baiting me.’
Charity shrugged. ‘I just wanted to see if you remembered our origins. Mr Drake thinks you terribly proud.’
‘When did you speak to Mr Drake?’ More importantly, why had they been discussing her? And had he really formed such a poor opinion of her in only two meetings?
‘I might have run into him as he left yesterday morning,’ Charity answered.
‘You mean you were lurking in the hall, waiting to catch a glimpse of him,’ Hope replied. ‘You are too young for him, if that is your line of thinking.’ Her little sister had shown no real interest in men thus far, which made her sudden curiosity about Mr Drake all the more alarming.
‘I am nineteen,’ Charity replied. ‘Some would say I am just the right age for marriage and at nearly twenty-one you are dangerously near to becoming a spinster.’
‘You are still not right for Mr Drake,’ Hope said, exasperated. Then she added, ‘We do not even know if he is married.’
‘Do you wish for me to ask him?’
‘Certainly not.’ Sometimes, it was convenient to have such a nosy sister, who would satisfy her curiosity without Hope having to admit she had ever wondered. ‘It is not our concern whether or not he has a wife.’ She sounded as disapproving as she was able, knowing that Charity could rarely resist the forbidden. Then she added, ‘He is a total stranger to us.’
‘As is the new Earl of Comstock,’ her sister reminded her.
‘There is no comparison between the two. We know nothing about Mr Drake, his finances or his family. If he is single, we do not even know if he wishes to marry. But the Earl will have no choice in the matter. He must produce an heir and might welcome a helpmate already familiar with the holdings he has inherited. In turn, he will offer security,’ Hope reminded her, ticking off the logical reasons she’d used to convince herself of the plan.
‘So, you will sacrifice yourself to maintain the status quo.’
‘It is hardly a sacrifice to marry a peer,’ she said, even though it sometimes felt like it.
‘It is always a burden to alter your life for the good of another,’ Charity said. ‘If you are doing so for my sake, it is not necessary.’
‘If you don’t mean to help yourself, then I must. You will not find a husband hiding in someone else’s library.’
‘I will be fine, with or without a husband,’ Charity said. ‘We might be fine together, if you will let go of the foolish idea that it is necessary to marry to be safe.’
‘You do not understand...’ Hope said.
‘I understand more than you know. I simply do not care.’
‘That is quite clear from your appearance,’ Hope snapped. ‘We are in London, not Berkshire. You might be required to receive visitors while I am gone. Please return to your room and do not come down again until you are wearing a new gown and a hair ribbon.’
Charity glanced in the mirror above the fireplace and then away again, unbothered by her sister’s hectoring. ‘The man I marry will have to love my imperfections, for I have no intention of changing my dress or my manner just to please him.’
‘Then you do not know as much as you think,’ Hope said. ‘It is up to us to make ourselves desirable. It is not in the nature of men to compromise.’
‘If a woman has enough money, they will do it quick enough,’ Charity said with a nod.
‘Since we are currently without funds that is not a consideration.’ Not for the first time, Hope wondered if there wasn’t a strain of madness running through the family. Sometimes she felt more like a keeper than a sister.
