Eddie huffed in distress. “Don’t call them bastards, Charlie. It isn’t their fault.”
“But it is what they are. And we seemed to have had an inordinate number of them at our school, acknowledged or not.”
“Should we scratch them off the list?”
“Not if they’re rich.”
“But not too rich.”
All three girls shared rueful smiles.
“Which brings us back to the original problem,” Georgie said, still considering the ceiling. “How are we doing on convincing Prissy’s father, Eddie?”
Eddie sighed and turned to sharpening her quill. “Priscilla believes she can get him to the Halverson’s ball tomorrow night.”
Both Georgie and Charlie groaned. The Halversons threw the most stultifying entertainments in London. All pretense and no charm. And yet, mandatory for young ladies still on the market. Which, unfortunately, the Packham girls were.
“Eloise Chadwick,” Eddie suggested suddenly, flipping pages.
Georgie opened her mouth to sayno, and then realized that there was nothing really wrong with Eloise. She was rich, quiet, nice, pretty, a baron’s daughter, and twenty-five. Which meant she could be amenable to suggestion. After all, no matter how nice you were, twenty-five was still twenty-five.
“Why isn’t she married?” she asked.
“Eloise?” Charlie asked. “She was promised to a Guardsman, wasn’t she?”
Eddie nodded. “He fell at Salamanca. She was devastated. They’d been childhood friends.”
Georgie waved a hand. “Put her name down. She needs a nice husband.”
“Coleford is nice?” Charlie asked.
Georgie scrunched up her nose. “Well, not...exactly. But he is honorable. And kind to little girls.”
“And handsome?”
Georgie closed her eyes, his face still before her. “Not that either. Striking, I’d say. Compelling. But any one of our brothers is more handsome.”
She opened her eyes to see Eddie considering whatever she’d written. “Then are you certain Eloise is right for him?”
Again, there was that catch in her chest. “Of course. Oh, and possibly Lilly Trent-Parker.” Georgie caught Eddie exchanging quick glances with Charlie. “What?” she asked.
“Nothing,” both answered a bit too quickly, which tipped her off quite neatly.
“No,” she said, sitting up, since it was difficult to be threatening lying down. “Definitely not. If I see my name anywhere on that list, blood will flow. I have things to do.” She waved at the list. “Put down Lilly. She is one of six and has four brothers.”
Charlie nodded. “Proven breeder.”
Eddie wrinkled her nose. “How complimentary.”
“I’m only thinking the way a man would who is looking to secure his succession,” Charlie protested. “If it comes to that, considering the size of our families, all three of us would fall into that category.”
“Well,” Eddie demurred. “Maybe you two. There are only Gabe and I for our branch.”
Charlie waved that objection aside. “That’s only because you lost your parents before they had a chance to add to the totals. And you do have Gabe, remember.”
“True,” Eddie mused. “We all have males in our families. That should be enough.”
“And I certainly have the hips for childbearing,” Charlie agreed with a grin, as she scooped up the rest of the toasting implements to put them away.
