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Chapter Nine
Grace tried not to be overly preoccupied with what her brother-in-law might be saying to Lord Sterling. She was reasonably sure the duke had no intention of joining his wife in her matchmaking efforts, but the worry still niggled at the back of her mind. She would be mortified, if that were the case.
With a slight shake of her head, Grace rid herself of the ridiculous thought. Rathnelly was far too busy with more important things to meddle with such matters. But she still turned to her sister with a gimlet eye.
“Felicity Sherton Barrington, you ought to be ashamed of yourself. Could you not figure out a way to be a wee bit less obvious about your intentions?”
Felicity tried to look innocent, but it was not her best strength. Instead, she finally just laughed.
“Gracie, my dearest, I am of the opinion that Lord Sterling would be perfect for you. You can hardly blame me for trying to nudge him along a trifle.”
“I can, and I do,” Grace responded as calmly as she could muster, despite her uncharacteristic urge to rail at her sister. She was relieved the children had been excused at the same time that the gentlemen left the room. She didn’t want them witnessing their mother and aunt having a disagreement.
“But why? You have known me your entire life. Surely, you must fully realize that I cannot ignore my best impulses.”
“I do know that, Felicity, but this is not one of your best impulses. It was fully a different matter when your ideas and adventures involved yourself. But now, you are bent on sticking your managing ways into my affairs, and that is where you must draw the line.”
“But Grace, he is perfect.”
Gracie shook her head emphatically. “For one thing, I haven’t the first idea what you are basing this assessment of perfection upon, since I’m reasonably sure you don’t know him very well. And for another, it would matter little even if youdidknow him well enough to make such a judgment. My life is my affair. I do not wish to wed, certainly not to an arrogant man such as Lord Sterling.”
Felicity’s frown demonstrated her lack of comprehension. “But Gracie, heisperfect,” she insisted. “Perfect for you. I knew it the instant we met. And marriage is perfect.” The love-addled sigh that followed Felicity’s declaration made Gracie roll her eyes.
“Felicity,” Grace began with a small laugh. “Who is this imposter in my sister’s likeness? I have never known you to be so positive. And to wax so extreme on two separate subjects at once. It is very unlike you.”
Felicity grinned. “Marriage agrees with me, my dear.”
Gracie returned her sister’s smile, reaching out to squeeze her hand gently. “I know, Felicity. And I also know that is why you think I ought to join you in the wedded state. But just as you were determined to forge your own path in life, you must afford me the same privilege. Is it not for me to decide if I wish to marry and to whom? It is not for you to try to force a gentleman into courting me. You know full well Lord Sterling is not known as a man who courts. It is unlikely he will start with me. And it’s embarrassing me for you to even try. It is unseemly and perfectly mortifying.”
Felicity stared at Gracie, clearly torn between her reactions. Grace held her breath, waiting to see on which side of the issue her sister would land. She had pulled on all the appropriate strings to elicit a reaction from Felicity, but Grace couldn’t say for certain how her sister would react. Felicity had taken to married life in ways Grace couldn’t have predicted, and it seemed her new role as stepmother had only fuelled her managing ways. But reminding Felicity of her own determination to arrange the best life for herself might have touched her. If this didn’t work, Grace could only hope the earl was called away on urgent business back to his usual haunts, so he wouldn’t be within reach of Felicity’s machinations.
Finally, Felicity nodded. “I can see your point, Gracie, but could you at least promise me to consider him as a possible match? And why wouldn’t he start with you? Any gentleman would be lucky to have you to wife. I know you say you don’t wish to marry, but you haven’t really offered a satisfactory explanation as to why you would wish to persist in that endeavour. I think you ought to at least consider it. If you were the more adventurous type, I would understand it better. As it is, I’m surprised you would wish to be so unconventional. And I don’t think Sterling is so terribly arrogant, either.”
Gracie crossed her arms before she realized how defensive that made her look and tried to relax her stance. She didn’t want to argue with Felicity, and she didn’t wish to discuss the matter further. She would have to be satisfied with her sister’s offer to stem her matchmaking efforts.
“I will think about it, Felicity, thank you. I know your actions are motivated out of concern for me, and I do appreciate that. But I think, in this case, you are going to have to leave it to me.”
Felicity sighed dramatically before allowing her grin to spread. “Very well, but promise me you’ll tell me what conclusions you’ve come toafteryou’ve thought about it.”
Grace laughed, feeling safe in making such a promise. “Very well. I promise I’ll tell you my conclusions, but I cannot promise they will be to your liking.”
Felicity laughed, too. “I suppose that’s fair.” There was a brief pause. Grace watched as her sister tried to compose her expression into one of innocence.
“I must say, the two of you did perform the duet quite well, especially for two people who had never played together before.”
Grace laughed again, hearing a tinge of hysteria in it that could not be helped. “I can see how difficult it is for a tiger to change its stripes.”
Felicity appeared taken aback by her sister’s words but then joined her in laughter.
“Very well. My apologies. I will try harder to desist.”
“I could give you something else to think about, if you’d like,” Gracie began gently, still not comfortable with addressing what she had noticed about Adelina’s behaviour. Her disquiet must have been evident as Felicity immediately became watchful.
“What did you have in mind?”
Grace cleared her throat, hoping Felicity didn’t think she was suddenly becoming critical as retribution. But the subject needed to be addressed; now or later wouldn’t make much difference.
“I noticed that Adelina was quite bold in her address of the earl. It seemed to me that it made his lordship uncomfortable. I thought I ought to mention it to you, as she is in that tricky stage where she is no longer a little girl but obviously far from making her curtsy to Society. If you haven’t done so already, I think it time to begin her training on what are acceptable social interactions.”
