Eloisa James - Much Ado About You

‘Now, if I marry the duke,’ Annabel said briskly, ‘one of us ought to marry that earl our guardian has so kindly provided.’

‘Better the earl than the duke,’ Imogen said. ‘I don’t think Holbrook has combed his hair since last Tuesday. Not that I’m marrying either of them.’

‘I’m too young to marry anyone,’ Josie said with satisfaction. ‘And even if I weren’t, the Earl of Mayne would never want to marry someone like me. There’s something rather arrogant about him, don’t you think?’

‘What do you mean by “someone like me”?’ Tess asked. ‘Because you are beautiful, Josie. He would be lucky to marry you.’

‘A plumpy partridge?’ Josie said, and there was a hint of shame in her voice.

‘Papa meant it as an endearment, not as a description,’ Tess said, cursing her father silently, then instantly following the impulse with a silent prayer for forgiveness.

‘Did you hear His Grace mention that he would ask Lady Clarice to be our chaperone?’ Imogen said, abruptly changing the subject back to her favourite topic of conversation. ‘Lady Clarice is Draven’s mother. His mother! We are bound to see him often. And if she likes me …’

‘The fact Maitland’s mother exists does not alter the fact that his fiancée exists as well,’ Josie noted.

‘I can tell that Draven’s heart is not engaged in the match,’ Imogen said with an edge to her voice. ‘Just consider, he’s been betrothed for over two years without progressing to the altar.’

‘I hate to be dour,’ Annabel said, ‘but there’s likely a great deal of money involved in a breach-of-promise suit. Maitland has never been one to consider money as other than fodder for his stables. Do you really think he would choose you over his stables?’

Imogen opened her mouth, and then lapsed into silence.

‘Enough,’ Tess said, sitting up and pushing back the counterpane. ‘We must dress for supper.’

‘I’m merely going to the drawing room briefly to meet our chaperone,’ Josie said. ‘Then Mrs Beeswick is going to serve me a comfortable meal in the schoolroom. I’ve been there while you were sleeping, and it’s all books. Lovely books!’

Tess gave her a hug. ‘That’s splendid, darling. And the duke told me that he’d find you a governess directly, so perhaps you could even start lessons in the near future. It would be nice if one of us were learned. Imogen, you mustn’t let Lady Clarice have even a hint of your tendresse for her son.’

‘I’m not stupid!’ Imogen clambered off the bed. She’d left her hair down, and it swept behind her in a great swirling gleam of black silk. ‘Just don’t ask me to marry anyone except for Draven. Not the duke nor the earl. I’m quite certain that — ‘

‘Oh, no,’ Josie moaned. ‘Can’t you just accept the fact that Maitland is unavailable, Imogen?’

‘I don’t agree,’ Imogen said stubbornly. ‘Don’t you remember the time that I managed to fall out of the apple tree at Draven’s feet, and he picked me up?’ She shivered. ‘It was lovely. He’s so strong.’

‘Yes, but — ‘ Josie said, but Imogen overran her.

‘I thought I might not see Draven until we travelled to London, but here he is living down the road, and his mother is to be our chaperone.’ Imogen’s eyes were glowing with fervour. ‘Obviously, it’s fate! We belong together.’

‘I think we’ve neglected the possibility that she injured her head in that fall,’ Josie said to Annabel and Tess.

Tess sighed. It was obvious to everyone that Draven Maitland didn’t really give a pin for Imogen, and it was equally obvious that Imogen wouldn’t countenance marrying anyone other than Maitland. Either she or Annabel would have to give Imogen a home until their little sister finally gave up her fruitless adoration.

‘Our marriage was fated in the stars!’ Imogen announced, looking as dramatic as any heroine in a melodrama.

Annabel was standing before the glass, pulling her honey hair in a great mass over her shoulder. ‘Darling,’ she said, giving Imogen an amused glance, ‘you keep your idea of how marriages are made, and I shall keep mine. From everything I’ve seen, the best marriages are those between practical persons, entered into for practical reasons, and with a reasonable degree of confidence in compatibility.’

‘You sound like a solicitor,’ Imogen said.

‘An accountant,’ Annabel responded. ‘Papa made me into an accountant, which means that I can’t help looking at life as a series of negotiations, of which marriage is the most important.’

She smiled at herself in the glass and twisted her hair into a great shining pile on her head. ‘Do I not look like a duchess?’ She struck a pose. ‘Make way for Her Grace!’

‘Make way for a goose!’ Josie said, and then shrieked and ran for the door as Annabel made a swipe at her bottom with the brush.

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