Page 45 of Marry in Haste
“No,” Cal said. “It’s not appropriate.” Especially given her predilection for wearing boots and breeches. He didn’t want his niece getting a name for eccentricity—deserved or not. Not before he had her off his hands, at any rate.
“Nonsense,” said Aunt Dottie briskly. “If that’s what the child prefers—”
“It’s not fitting.”
“Why not?” Rose interjected. “You prefer being called Cal instead of Calbourne.”
Her new niece gave her a cautious smile.
“Yes, but Cal is not a girl’s name. George is—”
Rose slipped her arm through Georgiana’s. “What about Calpurnia, the wife of Julius Caesar? I bet Caesar called her Cal for short.”
Cal gritted his teeth. “Her proper name is Georgiana.”
“You call her that then, dear,” Aunt Dottie said happily. “We’ll stick to George—a perfect compromise. I think George, especially for such a pretty girl, is rather charming.It would be different if she were plain and mannish, of course, but she’s not. In fact, I think the name will underline her femininity delightfully. Besides, she’ll be called Lady George by most people, which has a certain cachet, don’t you think? Now, shall we all go in to supper? Cal dear, your arm.”
Cal gave up. He took his aunt in to supper.
The girls seemed to be getting on well, he observed gloomily. Of course they were. Divide and conquer? No such luck.
At the end of supper, Lily said, “Let us take George up to our bedchamber—she’ll be sharing with Rose and me—Logan moved another bed in yesterday. We’ll help her unpack.”
“I don’t have much to unpack,” Georgiana said, looking at Cal. “But what about my d—”
Cal cut her off. “When Hawkins has completed the task I set him, then we shall see. Go along upstairs; I will prepare Aunt Dottie for what is to come.” He narrowed his eyes at her in a silent order.
She eyed him doubtfully, gave a halfhearted shrug and allowed herself to be led away.
“That sounds exciting,” Aunt Dottie said. “What is ‘to come’?”
Cal sighed. “Let us go into the sitting room and I’ll explain.”
***
George’s newfound aunts led her to a large, elegant bedchamber with a wide bay window that overlooked the street. It was as large as the big sitting room at home, and even with three beds in the room, it still didn’t feel cramped. The walls were covered with pale green paper in an elegant Chinese design, and two of the bedcoverings had obviously been made to match.
A shabby valise was sitting on the third bed. “Shall we send for a maid to unpack that for you?” Rose asked.
“No!” She moderated her tone. “I mean, no, thank you. I prefer to do it myself.”
“Logan found that for you to use.” Lily pointed to a smallchest of drawers beside the bed. “I hope there’s enough room for all your things. And you can share our wardrobe, of course.”
Rose and Lily sat on their own beds and waited expectantly. George swallowed. Everything here was so fancy and fine, she was embarrassed to open her case and expose the paucity of her possessions. What had Martha packed for her?
She opened it and, as expected, on the top lay her new petticoats and chemises and other female bits and pieces, separated from whatever lay beneath by a layer of paper. They were plain and the fabric was a bit coarse—Alderton village didn’t run to fancy clothing. She shoved them quickly into the drawers, feeling angry with herself. She didn’t care about clothes anyway. It was just... she wanted her new relatives to think well of her.
She reached for the layer of paper, dreading what she might find underneath. The hideous pink, ink-stained dress? More dresses from the village? She lifted the paper and blinked. As she quickly flipped through the neatly packed layers her grin grew. She did a little dance. “Thank you, Martha!”
“What is it?” Rose and Lily leaned forward curiously.
“I thought I’d never see these again.” She lifted up a pair of her breeches. Martha had packed all three pairs of breeches, several coats, four good shirts and two waistcoats, as well as her two best pairs of boots.
“Breeches?” Rose exclaimed. “Men’sbreeches?”
“These are mine,” George said gleefully. “Until your brother started interfering in my life, that’s all I ever wore.” She plucked distastefully at her blue dress. “He forced me to wear this thing.”
“How dare he!” Rose said indignantly. “That fashion is years out of date, and the fabric is cheap and a bit garish.” She bit her lip. “Sorry, I hope I didn’t offend you.”
