Page 11 of Tamed By a Duke
"It wouldn't be a meeting of the Witty Wallflowers without cake," Julia smiled.
"Are we witty this week? I don't think I have any sparkling conversational pieces to offer you, if we are," Charlotte said, as Violet rang for Dorothy.
"Well, last week we were wondrous," Julia replied, "And all three of us were far from wonderful, what with our streaming noses and sneezes. There is no expectation to actually live up to the sobriquet of the week, Charlotte; have no fear."
"Thank goodness for that," Violet added, as she sat back down, "For we are running out of adjectives that begin with a "W". I shouldn't like to try and become a Warty Wallflower, when the time comes."
"My mother thinks me a Withered Wallflower," Julia sighed, idly plucking at the torn cloth of her chair, "She and Papa have decided that they shall find me a husband before the end of this season, before I am officially placed on the shelf."
The idea that anyone would consider Lady Julia a spinster, even at the age of two and twenty, was so ridiculous that Charlotte almost laughed. Ever since her first season, Julia had been the belle of every ball she attended; her spun-gold hair, delicate features, and porcelain skin saw to that. True, she had earned herself a reputation as fussy, given the number of proposals she had turned down, but no one would ever think the ton's most beautiful bloom as withered. Even if she reached the age of seventy, Charlotte knew that men would still be throwing themselves at Julia's feet.
"Have they anyone in mind?" Charlotte asked, nervous that Lord and Lady Cavendish might already have a suitor lined up to claim Julia's hand. The Wallflowers were a trio, to think that one of them might be plucked so soon was unbearable.
"Not yet, but they are looking," Julia said darkly, frowning for a moment before her face relaxed back into a smile, "Now, enough about me. Tell me what has been happening with the two of you since our last meeting?"
"I can't speak for Cat, but I was busy not reading Glenarvon," Violet said, with a mischievous glance at Charlotte.
"I was also busy, but I still found time to read it," Charlotte replied, laughing despite herself, "Though I must say that I was not quite able to focus on it properly, given all the drama at home..."
"Drama?" Violet whirled around in her seat to look at her with surprise, for Charlotte was not the dramatic sort.
"Drama of the highest order," Charlotte confirmed with a sigh, before she quickly explained her current plight.
"So, you have to find a duke and make him fall in love with you?" Violet surmised as Charlotte finished, her dubious tone not inspiring much confidence in Charlotte.
"It seems so," Charlotte said, slumping her shoulders in defeat, "If Papa had only said that any young buck would do, I would not feel so despairing. A second son with a need for a fortune would be easy to entice; a duke is another matter entirely."
"Balderdash," Julia interrupted her, confidently, "You have everything to recommend you to a duke; beauty, breeding, and a brain."
"Most men take umbrage with the brain part," Charlotte said dryly, her mind briefly thinking on the darkly handsome stranger from the day before. She guessed that he was the type of gentleman who saw women as mere ornaments and did not think a female was good for anything, except giggling in his presence and fluttering her eyelashes. He had probably thought her a bluestocking, which in most men's eyes, was almost on a par with being the devil himself, Charlotte thought with a frown.
Not that Charlotte cared what the handsome stranger had thought of her, of course.
"The thing one must remember with it comes to dealings with men," Julia said wisely, interrupting Charlotte's musings, "Is that they are not picking you, you are pickingthem. Don't wonder whattheywant from a partner, think on what you want."
Julia's advice was most practical, Charlotte thought, and were she searching for a husband, she would certainly heed it. But she was not searching for a husband, she was searching for a duke.
"I suppose I should like him to be young enough," Charlotte offered, as her friend reached for one of Violet's pencils and her sketch pad.
"Young," Julia said, as she scribbled on the page.
"Not that I have anything against older men," Charlotte garbled, "It's just that dishonesty is bad enough, without leading an octogenarian on a merry dance. Younger men's feelings are more robust..."
"Robust," Julia echoed, still scribbling.
"Your suffering would be eased if he were somewhat handsome," Violet added, "In your eyes at least."
As the artist amongst the trio, Violet had a great appreciation for beauty, though she often found it in the strangest of places. If beauty was in the eye of the beholder, Charlotte was sometimes wont to think that Violet might be slightly short-sighted. From her individual taste in fashion, to Bagpipes, the lion-esque stray cat Violet had found in Hyde Park and brought home, the bar for Violet's vision of beauty was set quite low.
"Handsome," Julia noted, as she added the third requirement to the list.
"I would like him to be kind," Charlotte said, but noted that her friend did not scribble this down.
"I'm afraid that kindness is a foreign concept to most men," Julia sighed, "But especially high-ranking ones. A kind-hearted duke would be impossible to find. We have young, robust and handsome, that will have to do."
"Local," Violet added with a squeak, as she waved Dorothy into the room, "There's no point in deciding upon a duke who has ensconced himself in the Hebrides. A duke-about-town is what's required."
"Local," Julia said, with a note of finality, as she scribbled down the final point, "Well, if this what you require, then I'm afraid that I have only one answer for you."
