Amelia Grey - [Rogues' Dynasty 06] by The Rogue Steals a Bride Page B

you?”
    “Thirty-eight. I’m like a dried flower on the shelf. No man is going to look at me. It’s not realistic for me to dream about being courted, Sophia, but it is satisfying.”
    Sophia’s heart ached for her aunt’s plight. She had no idea why neither of her aunts had married. Even at their advanced age, they were lovely in appearance and countenance. They were both intelligent and delightful to converse with. But whatever caused them not to marry when in their prime, it was obvious that Aunt Mae was having regrets now.
    Without thinking it through, Sophia said, “If you would like to have a beau, I’ll help you get one.”
    Startled, Mae looked at Sophia and laughed again. “What?”
    “I’ll help you get a beau,” Sophia said, knowing she had no idea how she would go about doing something like this, but she wanted to make her aunt feel that all was not lost just because of her age.
    Mae’s eyes rounded in wonder. “You would do that for me, wouldn’t you?”
    “Of course,” Sophia said earnestly. “I’ve never liked the accepted rule that a gentleman can wait as long as he likes to marry, but if a lady wants to take her time, she will be considered a weed on the shelf and not marriageable.”
    Her aunt seemed thoughtful for a moment and then said, “If I were interested, which I’m not, mind you—the idea is absolutely preposterous—but if I were, how would you go about helping me?”
    “Well, it’s simple,” she said slowly, stalling while praying for an idea to pop into her mind. Now that she’d made her bold assertion, she had to come up with how to implement it. “Let’s see, perhaps if there were a gentleman you were interested in, like Lord Bighampton.”
    “An earl!” Aunt Mae exclaimed. “Oh, my heavenly stars, Sophia! Lord Bighampton is such a splendid cut of a man. He would never be interested in me.”
    “You don’t know that. Besides, I was using him only as an example. No matter the gentleman, if he wanted to call on me,” Sophia said as an idea came to her, “I would agree, and then I could be late for our outing. I’d make him wait and ask you to keep him company until I was ready. And then, I would have you join us for a ride in the park. That would work, wouldn’t it? I could make sure he talked to you more than me. He could see what a truly lovely and charming person you are, and he would want to call on you.”
    “Oh, by all the saints in heaven, Sophia! It does sound doable.”
    Sophia blinked in surprise that her aunt actually liked her hastily thought of plan.
    A worried expression settled on Mae’s face. “But even if we could make it work, June would never approve.”
    “Why should she have to?” Sophia said. “She is your sister, not your mother and not your keeper. You can’t worry about what she will think.”
    Aunt Mae laughed. “You know June can be very forceful, but thank you, dear one. Your ideas make me feel young again.” She hesitated and then shook her head. “June is right. We don’t need husbands in our lives. We have each other, and now you to look after.”
    “No, she isn’t right.” Sophia reached over and hugged her aunt. “Our plan is set, and I will not let you talk yourself out of it. Now, at the next party we attend, I want you to pick out three gentlemen you would like to call on you, and I will let them know that a call from them would be welcome.”
    “All right, I already have two in mind.”
    “Good. All we have to do is talk Aunt June into letting gentlemen call on me, so we can both get busy finding the gentlemen of our dreams.”
    “What is going on between you two?” June asked, walking into the drawing room. “You’re laughing like schoolgirls pulling a prank on the governess.”
    “Oh, we are doing nothing of the sort,” Mae said. “I was just complimenting Sophia on her poetry.”
    “So it’s good?” June asked.
    “Yes,” Mae said with a smile. “It’s very creative, and I think it’s going