“How are they different from any other men?”
“I think it’s because she doesn’t want me marrying and moving away from her, and she doesn’t want me to marry any better than she did. She doesn’t want me to marry a man she hasn’t picked out for me. But more than that, she wants me under her thumb. She’s always wanted to control me. She has even picked out the man she wants me to marry. He is…he is…he is horrid, Julia. I can’t marry him. I know I couldn’t be intimate with him, and yet, I have a hard time disobeying my mother. She wants me with her constantly.”
“You are away from her right now, and she seems all right with that.”
“Oh, indeed, but she is in Uncle’s townhouse reaping the rewards of his riches, and she knows that I shall have to return, whether I want to or not. Aunt Alice shan’t want me sticking around forever.”
“She probably wouldn’t mind. Now that Rose and Iris have left the nest, I’m quite certain she’d take having you living there, and as for Uncle Edward, he really doesn’t mind at all. He has such a good and kindly nature, sometimes, it almost pains me to see him, because he reminds me so much of my own dear Papa.”
“My Papa didn’t have a sixpence to scratch with, but he had a good heart as well.”
“Have you ever thought to ask your Uncle if he would provide you with a dowry?” Julia asked.
“I…I have nerve with some people, Julia, but it quite escapes me whenever I am around Uncle Thomas.”
“I have the same problem. He renders me speechless. It is most vexing.”
Ruby laughed. “He adores you, though. He’s always talking about how corky you are, and how independent, and high spirited you are, and whenever he does it, he looks right at me. It is as if he is telling me he wants me to be more like you. I always found it quite irritating, but now that I’ve spent some time with you, I don’t find it nearly as annoying. I…just…sometimes I fumble over my words, and whenever the opposite sex is around me, I either go as quiet as the grave, or I say all of the wrong things.”
“Or you hide and flee from them,” Julia said, chuckling.
“Aye, I do,” Ruby agreed.
“Micah Radcliff had a similar problem. He didn’t hide or run away, mind you. No, Micah wouldn’t run from a bloody army, but he did have the awful habit of stumbling over his words, or not being able to find the right words. He really does have the penchant for putting his foot in his mouth, and yet, he still managed to court and marry, Rose. It is a bloody wonder…but he managed it,” Julia laughed. “Hmm…why don’t I try to match you up with someone?
“Now, if Freddie were still around…he and Tiny could match you up with a suitable chap. They take the credit for putting Rose and Micah together, Iris and Lewis, and they also think they helped their Colonel Elliot and Ginny Larkin to the altar…but I don’t think they helped much in that courtship. I think that Ginny’s family had a hand in matching her up with the Colonel.
“The Lovetts are related to the Devilles, you see. My great-great-grandfather’s youngest sister married Valentine Deville’s great-grandfather, so it does go back a ways and sometimes, we remember the connection. Of course, I suppose that since we can actually trace them on the family tree without looking that they are close enough to us. They have been here to a visit us a few times. They love Castleton Court and Lark Hall, and Ginny and Val are dear girls. They like London, more than we Lovetts do. We like to stick to our ancestral lands.
“Come to think of it, I should actually urge Simon to invite the Deville boys here sometime. They were all chums at Eton and stuck together. I believe that Cyril was in the same year as Simon, and Lady Ann Hardwicke is a friend of mine, and Ginny wrote me to tell me that Clarence fancies Ann. We could throw the two of them together, and play at being two little Venus’s. Mayhap, they’d
“I think it’s because she doesn’t want me marrying and moving away from her, and she doesn’t want me to marry any better than she did. She doesn’t want me to marry a man she hasn’t picked out for me. But more than that, she wants me under her thumb. She’s always wanted to control me. She has even picked out the man she wants me to marry. He is…he is…he is horrid, Julia. I can’t marry him. I know I couldn’t be intimate with him, and yet, I have a hard time disobeying my mother. She wants me with her constantly.”
“You are away from her right now, and she seems all right with that.”
“Oh, indeed, but she is in Uncle’s townhouse reaping the rewards of his riches, and she knows that I shall have to return, whether I want to or not. Aunt Alice shan’t want me sticking around forever.”
“She probably wouldn’t mind. Now that Rose and Iris have left the nest, I’m quite certain she’d take having you living there, and as for Uncle Edward, he really doesn’t mind at all. He has such a good and kindly nature, sometimes, it almost pains me to see him, because he reminds me so much of my own dear Papa.”
“My Papa didn’t have a sixpence to scratch with, but he had a good heart as well.”
“Have you ever thought to ask your Uncle if he would provide you with a dowry?” Julia asked.
“I…I have nerve with some people, Julia, but it quite escapes me whenever I am around Uncle Thomas.”
“I have the same problem. He renders me speechless. It is most vexing.”
Ruby laughed. “He adores you, though. He’s always talking about how corky you are, and how independent, and high spirited you are, and whenever he does it, he looks right at me. It is as if he is telling me he wants me to be more like you. I always found it quite irritating, but now that I’ve spent some time with you, I don’t find it nearly as annoying. I…just…sometimes I fumble over my words, and whenever the opposite sex is around me, I either go as quiet as the grave, or I say all of the wrong things.”
“Or you hide and flee from them,” Julia said, chuckling.
“Aye, I do,” Ruby agreed.
“Micah Radcliff had a similar problem. He didn’t hide or run away, mind you. No, Micah wouldn’t run from a bloody army, but he did have the awful habit of stumbling over his words, or not being able to find the right words. He really does have the penchant for putting his foot in his mouth, and yet, he still managed to court and marry, Rose. It is a bloody wonder…but he managed it,” Julia laughed. “Hmm…why don’t I try to match you up with someone?
“Now, if Freddie were still around…he and Tiny could match you up with a suitable chap. They take the credit for putting Rose and Micah together, Iris and Lewis, and they also think they helped their Colonel Elliot and Ginny Larkin to the altar…but I don’t think they helped much in that courtship. I think that Ginny’s family had a hand in matching her up with the Colonel.
“The Lovetts are related to the Devilles, you see. My great-great-grandfather’s youngest sister married Valentine Deville’s great-grandfather, so it does go back a ways and sometimes, we remember the connection. Of course, I suppose that since we can actually trace them on the family tree without looking that they are close enough to us. They have been here to a visit us a few times. They love Castleton Court and Lark Hall, and Ginny and Val are dear girls. They like London, more than we Lovetts do. We like to stick to our ancestral lands.
“Come to think of it, I should actually urge Simon to invite the Deville boys here sometime. They were all chums at Eton and stuck together. I believe that Cyril was in the same year as Simon, and Lady Ann Hardwicke is a friend of mine, and Ginny wrote me to tell me that Clarence fancies Ann. We could throw the two of them together, and play at being two little Venus’s. Mayhap, they’d
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