Page 4 of To Enchant a Rakish Viscount

“Are you sure? I feel like I look fat, especially around the waist area.”

“Not at all. The dress looks better on you than it ever did on me. You know that I’d be honest otherwise.”

That was true. As sweet, kind, and sincere Leah could be, she could also be appropriately honest. She was always the type to deliver her honest words, no matter how harsh they were, they still came out as kind.

“That is good then. At least I shall feel good about myself at the party.”

“There you go again,” Leah said. “You seem rather pessimistic today.”

There was no point in hiding the truth. “If I am to be honest, I am feeling pressure. Twenty-two is one of the years where everything should be coming together. But here I am, still the same person that I was when I was twelve. Should I have made more progress in my life by now? That is what I am wondering. Parties are all well and good. But once the birthday ball is over, it is back to the same life.”

Leah nodded in agreement but also with what looked to be an answer already in the chamber. “I have learned that time can either be tremendously frightening or extraordinarily enlightening.”

“How so? Because as of right now, I am frightened that time is no longer on my side.”

“Well, my father helped me to see it like this. There are two types of people. Those who eat an apple and midway through get sad that they are almost finished. Or you’re the type of person that finishes half an apple and feels happy that they have half an apple left. The beauty of that is you get to choose which one of those people you are.”

“Easier said than done. I have spent my whole life worrying about the other half of that apple.”

Leah laughed and fluffed the shoulders of Harper’s dress. “Then today is the day you make the change. You have a great dress to help you do so. Perhaps it can even help you to get engaged.”

“Engaged! Ha! I should be so lucky.”

“There is no luck involved. Just you.”

Harper thought deeply about the wordengaged.It felt like a giant monster that was impossible to bring down to size. Where would she even begin with such a concept? Was she even ready for that? Being engaged to someone wasn’t just like choosing what shoes to wear, nor was it easy to put those shoes on. Or at least, that’s how Harper saw it.

Being engaged would require more than just knowing a man for her. She would really need to know him beyond the surface level. Harper could barely plan her day, let alone plan an entire life with someone. What would that process even look like?

“Leah, I thought your job was to calm me down, not put more fear into me.”

Leah laughed once more. “You fear all the wrong things.” She took a seat at the end of Harper’s bed. “Your potential fiancé should be the one stressing out there in the world, not you.”

Even though Leah was right as usual, Harper wasn’t that type of person. As confident as she may have come off to people, she had her internal doubts. “And who is that man, to be exact? Who in this world is perfect for me? Perfect enough to spend the rest of their life by my side.”

“Surely you have someone or more than just someone in mind?”

The only one that came to Harper’s mind was a man named James. He was a gallant stranger who was new to the neighbourhood who had shown a clear interest in Harper. Just thinking about him was enough to make her blush. That was someone that she would not have minded receiving a proposal from. She wished that he would do it soon. Would the party be too soon, though?

“You are thinking of James, aren’t you?” Leah asked.

“Perhaps. Am I wrong for that?”

“Not at all. He seems like a decent suitor. A little mysterious for my taste, though.”

Hearing Leah say that was one of the few times that reminded Harper that her friend was indeed not perfect. For the last several years, Harper, Leah, and their friend Marianne had been out. In that time, they had made themselves available in the normal ways that women would.

Socialising at events, being accompanied to markets, attending whatever weddings they were invited to. The friends were all similar in that respect. They all lead similar lives with the same goals, goals that were best left not too forced, but still attempted to find a suitor.

Seeing someone like Leah not find one, as bad as it was to think it, made Harper feel better. Because Leah was as close to perfect as perfect could be. She had the beauty, the heart, the personality, and the intellect. She had it all. Yet, she was still not engaged to be married. If she couldn’t find anyone, then surely Harper could not have been the problem.

The only flaw in that, was knowing Leah and Marianne seemed to avoid men. That was one clear reason why those two had not gotten engaged. Maybe if they had put in more of an effort, more than just being polite at social gatherings, then they would surely find a suitor. Leah especially. But Harper wasn’t sure if she had just been looking at that in a way to make herself feel bad. She knew that it was never good to compare anyway. It was just hard not to. Her friends were her closest people in life. What they went through, she went through.

Harper knew her problem wasn’t so much that she avoided men, she simply found them dull. James was the only exception.

In the past, any man that would flirt with her could not hold her interest for very long. She knew why. Most of them would just speak about themselves and their accomplishments. That never made her feel wanted. That never made her feel as though they had any interest in her. It was strange.

She found that men would try to convey their interest by showing off rather than by getting to know her. Of course, that all derived from attempts at impressing her, but even knowing that it did nothing for her attraction.

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