“I had no intention of asking this evening. Do you think that is why they invited us?”
Elsbeth nodded. “I’m quite sure of it. Lady Holburn wanted to make it easy for you.”
Insulted that the Holburn family would think he couldn’t call on his own to request the lady’s hand, he scowled. “I’m not some young man just out of leading strings. I can very well do what is neededwhenI wish to.” And he refused to take away from his cousin’s ball by announcing his own engagement.
His aunt cocked her head. “Don’t be upset with them. Lady Caroline is the only lady you have been seen to have an interest in. It is not a surprise they expect an offer. After all, sheisthe only one you are interested in, correct?”
“Of course. Who else would there be?”
The two women looked at each other before turning back to him.
Something was afoot. “What are you thinking? No secrets. You know I detest secrets.”
“Elsbeth and I were just remarking yesterday on how well you and Lady Joanna seem to be rubbing along lately.”
“Rubbing along? You mean like one would with a school chum? That alone proves she is hardly duchess material.”
His young cousin crossed her arms over her chest and lifted her chin. “Then I think you should re-evaluate what is duchess material.”
“You do, do you?” Now his ire was truly up. “And that must be because you have so much experience in choosing a duchess.”
To give her credit, Elsbeth didn’t back down. She dropped her arms and took her mother’s hand. “My mother was a duchess, so I have had an excellent role model. In my estimation, Lady Joanna would make a fine duchess.”
Why did he have a feeling that allowing Elsbeth to attend Joanna’s school might cause a shift in her character? Fine. If she wished to debate the subject, he’d be happy to. With such a novice, he was sure to win. “And you think Lady Caroline would not?”
“We were not discussing Lady Caroline. We were discussing Lady Joanna, who is clearly much more intelligent than the aforesaid lady. She also makes you laugh, which I’ve seen no other woman do. She’s far more intriguing and has objectives far surpassing what pattern to embroider on her pillows.”
Shocked to discover his little cousin did indeed have a sharp mind, he was taken aback by his inability to distract her. “So far you have only mentioned the lady’s good qualities, but what about those which detract from her?”
Elsbeth shifted her gaze to the passing lamplights outside the window. “That is a bit difficult.” A secret smile lifted her lips. “Well, there is the fact she is hardly attractive.”
“Not attractive?” Affronted on the lady’s behalf, he felt obligated to defend her. “True, she has darker coloring than is the fashion among theton,but that hardly makes her unattractive. Her eyes are quite expressive, she blushes as well as any other lady, and she has an energetic grace that is difficult to describe.”
“I suppose, if you could overlook her need to discuss such obtuse topics.” She brought her hand to her chest. “I, of course, enjoy them, but they are absolutely boring to the average woman.” She lowered her voice. “There is reason for this being her fourth season and her designation as a bluestocking. You did know, did you not?”
“Bluestocking?” He despised the word. It had morphed from a positive one among gentry and middle class to making a woman a pariah in his own. “Do you even know what that is?”
Elsbeth gave him a condescending smile worthy of a future duchess. “The bluestocking circles of the last century were led by women of superior intellectual ability and included gatherings where conversation focused on learned topics. They were generally for men and women but very few ladies of the peerage attended. Of course, now, the term is used in a derogatory way to describe a lady who has studied far too much to be marriageable.”
He sat for a moment in stunned silence.
She shrugged. “I doubt Lady Joanna would care about the term. She doesn’t need to marry, and now with her school…I don’t imagine she would be interested in any requests for her hand anyway. So really, it’s a moot point.”
“A moot point.” He echoed her words as he followed her logic, feeling as if the dinner he’d just eaten had somehow turned into a large stone in his stomach. Turning his attention to his aunt, he found her smiling. “And do you agree with all this?” He waved his hand dismissively at his cousin.
“I do. But it is a shame she’s not quite right to be a duchess. I think Lady Joanna would have been a lovely addition to our family.”
From where he sat, they already had a young Lady Joanna in their family. He scowled at his cousin. When had she become so smart? “How did you know about the bluestockings?”
She sighed. “Surely you don’t think I only visit your library to watch the sun set?”
He shook his head. She may have learned the history of the word there, but she had acquired her new debating skills elsewhere. They lapsed into silence for which he was grateful. As opposed to his cousin, he was of a different mind about Lady Joanna. She would make an excellent duchess, but in a unique way, a progressive way.
He envisioned sitting across from her at breakfast, as she had suggested a married couple might. There would be no reading his morning paper. She would insist on conversation about the day or about whatever was in the paper. He would eventually retire to his library to pour over his ledger. Or would she do that? It would be a relief to have her take that over and then they would discuss various topics of planting, tenant issues, and investments. Then at night they would retire to their separate bedrooms, where he would don a robe and knock on her door. She would greet him with a smile and wrap her arms around his neck.
“Are you coming, James?”
His aunt’s voice from outside the carriage jolted him to the present. Stepping from the carriage, he joined her and Elsbeth as they all hurried into the house, the wind having stilled leaving behind a winter cold chill.
