Catherine still feels a bit other. Which is how sheshouldbe feeling, given she didn’t come on this trip to make friends. But having now been in their orbit for an entire day, Catherine might not mind actually being friends with these women, Lady Rosalie’s matchmaking machinations aside.
“So, what do you think of Mr.Sholle?” MissRaught asks.
Catherine turns and finds MissRaught watching her as she thumbs through the display of gloves by the window. It puts her on a slightly more even keel. They’ve been asking questions about her life near Idless and her family all day. Finally, they’re going to go in for the kill.
“He seems kind,” Catherine hedges.
“He is,” MissRaught agrees immediately. “Once, I fell on a walk, and he carried me all the way back to my house to spare my ankle.”
“How chivalrous.”
“It was,” MissRaught says a bit dreamily. “And he came to call to make sure I was all right the next day too.”
Catherine watches as she goes back to looking at the gloves. “It didn’t turn into... more?” she asks carefully.
It certainly sounds like the start of a romantic novel. Something right out ofSense and Sensibility.
“Oh, we didn’t have much in common. And he has these two enormous hunting dogs. I’m terribly allergic,” MissRaught says with a shrug.
“Oh,” Catherine says. She’s not one for large dogs either.
“Don’t let Henrietta’s fear of dogs dissuade you. They’re beautiful animals,” Lady Rosalie says, coming to join them at the front of the shop. “And he has such eyes for you, Miss Pine, you really ought to capitalize on it.”
Catherine watches MissRaught busy herself with the gloves. “I wouldn’t want to—”
“Mr.Sholle’s father vehemently opposes Henrietta’s father representing a particular member of his opposition in the Lords. It had little to do with Henrietta’s aversion to two average-sized hounds.”
“They’re huge,” MissRaught exclaims. “They’re as big as you!”
“They’re—” Lady Rosalie starts.
“A mere few inches shorter when sitting,” MissRaught insists. “It would have been a poor match regardless of my father.”
“He wasn’t that interested anyway,” Lady Rosalie says dismissively. “He never looked at you the way he’s been looking at MissPine.”
MissRaught’s eyes dim, her round face falling. It’s a backhanded compliment fully at the expense of MissRaught, and it prickles at Catherine’s skin.
“You deserve someone who looks at you like he’s been looking at MissPine,” Lady Rosalie continues.
Lady Rosalie and MissRaught stare at each other for a moment, before MissRaught puffs up with a little pride. She turns back to Catherine, her cheerful smile right back in place.
“You should definitely let him court you. He’s quite a catch. He’ll be a baron someday. And his lands are extensive. Your father would love to go hunting with him. The dogs are very impressive at that. And he’s funny. He told me a joke this one time that—”
“Henrietta, go give Amalie your opinion on her dress,” Lady Rosalie says.
MissRaught goes a bit pink and mumbles, “All right,” before scurrying from the room.
Catherine watches her go, unsure of whether to feel bad that Lady Rosalie cut her off, or be grateful Lady Rosalie had the gumption. Protesting a bit too much about Mr.Sholle, she thinks.
“Your father and the baron would get along well,” Lady Rosalie says.
“Yes, that is the most important part of a marriage, the groom getting along with the father-in-law,” Catherine says.
Lady Rosalie lets out a startled laugh. “It’s a benefit, certainly.”
“Hardly my most pressing concern,” Catherine admits. Lady Rosalie raises an eyebrow and Catherine decides to push. “If he’s such a catch, why didn’t you catch him?”
Lady Rosalie sucks on her cheek. She reaches out and takes Catherine’s hand. It’s like a bolt of lightning courses up her arm and Catherine withholds a gasp. But Lady Rosalie’s too busy dragging her into the fitting room to notice. Her delicate fingers are gentle around Catherine’s.
