Candace Camp - The Marriage Wager

“I will not let you get around me with flattery,” Constance warned her, but in truth she found it difficult to dislike Lady Haughston. The woman was disarmingly candid, and her smile was hard to resist.

“I am not trying to get around you,” Francesca assured her.

“Then what do you want?” Constance asked bluntly.

“I am suggesting that you and I join forces. We shall work together to find you a husband.”

“You want me to help you win the bet?” Constance’s voice was incredulous.

“No. Well, I mean, yes, I do, but that is not why you would wish to help me.”

“I don’t wish to help you,” Constance pointed out.

“Ah, but you should. I might win a bet, but the advantages for you are far greater.”

Constance looked at her skeptically. “You don’t honestly expect me to believe that I will get a husband out of this.”

“Why not?” Francesca replied calmly.

Constance wrinkled her nose. “I have little liking for listing my liabilities, but surely they must be obvious. I have no fortune. I am past the age of marrying and I am no beauty. I am here only to help my cousins achieve marriages. I am a chaperone, not a young girl on the marriage mart.”

“A lack of fortune is an obstacle,” the other woman agreed. “But it is certainly not impossible to overcome. As for your looks, well, if you took off that silly cap and dressed your hair attractively and wore something to show off your looks instead of hiding them, you would be a very attractive woman. You would also look scarcely older than your cousins. Tell me something, who decided that you should wear drab browns and grays and such?”

“My aunt felt it would be more appropriate for a spinster. She did not make me dress so.”

“But you, of course, are under obligation to her, as you live with them.”

“Yes, but…it is not only that. I do not wish to appear foolish, either.”

“Foolish? Why?”

Constance shrugged. “I am used to living in the country. I have no town bronze. Indeed, I have never even been to London before. I have no desire to make a misstep before all the Ton. To embarrass myself by dressing in something unsuitable for a woman of my age.”

Lady Haughston’s face assumed an expression befitting a woman with generations of earls behind her. “My dear Constance, if you dress according to my guidance, I assure you that no one would think you appeared in any way unsuitable.”

Constance could not hold back a chuckle. “I am sure not, Francesca. But the truth is, I have given up hope of marrying.”

“Do you want to spend the rest of your life with your aunt and uncle?” Francesca asked. “I am sure you are quite grateful to them, but I do not think that you are…very happy with them.”

Constance cast her a rueful look. “It is that obvious?”

“The differences between you are clear,” Francesca told her flatly. “One could hardly expect to live a happy life with people with whom one has so few traits in common. Nor can I think that your aunt and uncle have done well by you. You told me last night that you did not have your come-out because of your father’s illness. That was a good and properly filial thing to do. But when your father passed on and you came to live with your aunt and uncle, how old were you?”

“Twenty-two. Too old for my coming out.”

“Not too old to have a Season,” Francesca retorted. “Had they done the right thing by you, they would have given you a Season. I am sure it is what your father would have wanted, and it is what you deserved. Oh, yes, I know, you were older than the silly little seventeen-and eighteen-year-old girls being presented to the Queen. But, really, it isn’t necessary to have the presentation. Many do not. You could have had a Season. There are still a number of girls who are unmarried at that age. I know I should not malign your relatives, but I must tell you that I think your aunt and uncle acted selfishly. They saved themselves the expense of a Season, and they kept you at their beck and call for the past few years. Looking after their children, no doubt, and running errands for them. Doing the little things that no one else wanted to do. Now instead of letting you enjoy yourself at these parties, your aunt has forced you into the role of chaperone, making you wear dull clothes and dull hair.”

She cast a shrewd look at Constance and added, “Of course, she would want you looking as plain as possible. You outshine her daughters as it is.”

Constance stirred uncomfortably in her seat. Lady Haughston’s description of her life with Aunt Blanche was uncannily accurate. Constance herself had thought the same things many times. Aunt Blanche had used Constance’s sense of duty and obligation toward her, taking advantage in countless ways of her gratitude and her good nature.

“You cannot want to spend the rest of your life with them,” Francesca said, pressing her advantage. “Besides, you seem to me to be a rather independently minded young woman. Do you not wish for your own house, your own life? A husband and children?”

Constance’s thoughts turned to that brief time, many years ago, with Gareth, when she had let herself believe, at least for a little while, that such a life might be hers.

“I have never wanted to marry just to achieve a position in life,” Constance told her quietly. “Perhaps you will think me foolish, but I would like to marry for love.”

Constance could not read the look in Lady Haughston’s eyes as she regarded her. “I hope you do find love,” she said gravely. “But whether one loves or not, marriage gives a woman independence. You will have a place in life, a status that one can never find even in the happiest of situations, living with loving and wealthy parents. There is certainly no comparison to living under the thumb of a selfish and demanding relative.”

“I know,” Constance answered quietly. She knew, she thought, better than the lovely Lady Haughston, the facts of such a life. “But I cannot tie myself to a man for life without love.”

Francesca glanced away. Finally, after a long moment, she said lightly, “Well, surely, there is no reason to believe that one cannot find a husband one loves during the Season. No one will force you to marry any man who asks you. But would you not like to have the chance? Don’t you think it is only fair for you to taste some of what you missed?”

Her words struck a chord with Constance. She had stayed with her father through his years of illness, and she had done her best not to pine for what might have been. But she could not deny that there had been times when she had wondered what would have happened if she had been able to have even one London Season. She could not help but yearn to experience a little of the glamour and excitement herself.

Francesca, seeing Constance’s hesitation, pressed her argument. “Would you not like to have a Season? To wear pretty dresses and flirt with your beaux? To dance with the most eligible bachelors in England?”

Constance’s thoughts went to Viscount Leighton. What would it be like to have a chance to flirt with him? To dance with him? She wanted, quite badly, to meet him again, this time wearing something pretty, her hair falling about her face in curls.

“But how can I have a Season?” she asked. “I am here to act as chaperone. And my clothes…”

“Leave it all to me. I will make sure that you receive invitations to the right parties. I will be there to guide you through the treacherous waters of the Ton. I will make you the most sought-after woman in London.”

Constance chuckled. “I do not think that I could be made into such a creature, no matter what your efforts.”

Francesca cast her another haughty look. “You doubt my ability?”