Lady Cawle assessed her. “Are you sure you have a completely open mind?”
“I just confessed that I have requirements.”
“I wonder if you have some notion in your head of the perfect husband. That would get in your way.”
A person popped into her head, which made her say, “There are some aspects I could never like, especially rakish behavior. And may I point out that two of my failures have been because the gentlemen are unavailable.”
“True. I’ll think on it and send you what names I can conjure.” It was only when Ariana had risen to leave that Lady Cawle said, “Again, you haven’t mentioned Kynaston.”
“I know he wouldn’t suit.”
“I assure you he’s not bankrupt.”
“I was told his sister is in London because the roof of his country seat is falling in.”
“A gross exaggeration. Some neglect, yes, but he will attend to it.”
“Can you assure me he’s not a drunkard?”
“He drinks.” Lady Cawle stated it as a correction. “At the moment.”
“I’m supposed to believe that he’ll stop?”
“Why not?”
Ariana was surprised to find Lady Cawle so besotted, but it seemed unwise to argue.
“Then I hope for it, but I don’t have time to wait for his reform.”
“How very trenchant you are, gel. As you will. I will send any names I think of.”
Ariana took her leave, and as she walked home with Ethel, she related the conversation. “I think she must have been intending to match me with Kynaston all along, and now she’s angry to be thwarted.”
“Let her be,” Ethel said. “She can’t do you any harm.”
“I don’t fear her.” But Ariana remembered Kynaston saying that it wasn’t wise to offend the Dowager Countess of Cawle. Ariana resolved to be on her guard, and to treat any further suggestions of candidates with caution.
•••
That evening they went to a dinner, the theater, and a supper, but no new candidates appeared. Ariana tried to widen her selection to include gentlemen an inch or two shorter than herself and those not of the nobility. It did no good, and it wasn’t surprising. She was realizing that deep inside she did care about whom she married. In fact, she’d rather not marry at all than marry in even a lukewarm way.
Sweet stars in heaven, she wanted love!
She’d never suspected such folly, and for Boxstall she’d have to be more sensible. There was a better course, however. Norris must wed Miss Weathersted. How could she promote the match?
He wasn’t with them this evening, but he wasn’t with his lady, either. He hadn’t been specific, but she guessed he was attending some amusement that was packed with young aristocratic bachelors who, like him, were avoiding the more conventional events.
She looked around at the company and saw mostly older people and couples. She was hunting the wrong ground.
The next morning, when Ethel brought her breakfast, Ariana said, “I’ll be going out shortly for a long walk through the parks.”
“You could do with some exercise,” Ethel agreed. “You’re looking peaked.”
“It’s not that. It’s a time when gentlemen like to ride. I might meet, or at least see, some new possibilities.”
When Ariana was ready, she visited her mother, who was still in bed, to say where she was going.
“Take a footman, dear.”
