PREVIEW: A DUCHESS GODSENT
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CHAPTER ONE
“Wipe that unsightly frown off your face. It’s very unbecoming of a lady. It is no wonder that no gentleman has asked for your hand yet.”
Lady Ramsbury was in the middle of her usual castigation of her middle daughter, Frances Cooper.
What made it doubly embarrassing was that they were not in the privacy of their home, but rather in the middle of a bustling ballroom. Frances twisted the corners of her mouth into the shape of a smile, but her mother’s relentless reproach had stressed her out, making her attempt half-hearted, at best.
“I’m trying,Mother.I really am.”
“Then you must try even harder,” Albina whispered urgently, her gaze wandering around the ballroom in search of a suitable match.
Frances felt defeated. Her mother had always been one to have impossibly high expectations of her children—that was something she had seen firsthand when her older sister, Esther, had been in the middle of the match-seeking process. But nowthat the focus had shifted to her, Frances was beginning to feel just how heavy the load was to carry.
“What became of the gentleman with whom I had just left you to speak?”
“Um…” Frances hesitated. Truthfully, she had not been able to have a full conversation with him, and he had taken his leave after a few moments of awkward silence. “I suppose something came up and he had to leave.”
Albina did not seem convinced in the slightest, knowing her daughter’s timid nature.
“You must learn to put more effort into your conversations,” she instructed. “If you keep going like this, the Season will be over, and you will be left with no match. Now, let me handle this.”
Albina grabbed her daughter by the hand and steered her towards an unsuspecting gentleman.
“Lord Cormick, how lovely to see you here. Did your mother join you as well?”
Lord Cormick straightened up. “Ah, Lady Ramsbury. Lovely to see you, as well. Mother must be around here somewhere.”
“Oh, I have much to catch up on with her. We have been meaning to meet, but, you know, I have been occupied visiting my oldest at Trowbridge Estate.”
Frances felt her cheeks flush. She knew exactly where this conversation was headed. The fact that Esther was married into a noble family was a source of great pride for her mother, and Albina scarcely wasted any moment to boast about it to anyone who was willing to listen.
“Ah, Trowbridge Estate? That is quite near to London,” Lord Cormick noted.
“Yes, it is more the frequency with which I have to visit. You know my eldest daughter is a duchess, and she is always hosting parties that I have to attend. She gets her impeccable hosting skills from me, I am sure.”
Frances wished for the ground to open up and swallow her whole at that moment. She could see the slightly amused expression on Lord Cormick’s face as her mother continued with her obvious boasting.
“I am sure that you have quite the role in it,” he offered, his tone laced with sarcasm, but Albina took it happily as a compliment.
“Raising daughters is quite the task, yes. Have I introduced you to my youngest?” She nudged Frances, who appeared horror-struck by the whole exchange. “Lady Frances. She is hopeful for a match of her own this Season.”
Lord Cormick’s gaze fell on Frances. “Pleasure to meet you, my lady. I hope you are enjoying yourself this evening.”
Frances nodded in return, feeling the palms of her hands glisten with sweat.
She had always been a wallflower, happy to stand back and observe instead of putting herself in situations that warranted socializing. It made her nervous to interact with gentlemen when she was expected to impress them to a degree that they asked for her hand in marriage. Even now, she would much rather be at home, curled up by the window with her nose buried in her favorite book.
Her mother, of course, had different plans.
“You must excuse her. My dear Frances is a woman of few words. But with her older sister so well placed, we are certain that Frances will surely make an excellent match herself,” Albina declared, patting Frances gently on the shoulder.
Frances managed a weak but embarrassed smile. “I think that’s enough, Mother,” she muttered under her breath.
“I can only wish you the best of luck.” Lord Cormick’s disinterest could not be more blatant.
