“Mother, I’m better than them at many of the things they do!” With the exception of whoring, gambling, drinking, and other things too terrible to name.
“Nonetheless, you are now nineteen. Why I was already married and with child at your age. Duchesses Winstock and Polgate have remarked repeatedly on your not making your bow and they are right. I have let this nonsense go on far too long. You will have your season and you will make a match.” Her mother leaned closer showing just how focused she was. “Or we will make one for you.” Her mother had never used that kind of language before
Eleanor would have to make her mother understand. “Mother be serious, who could I hope to match with? I’ve met all the available men through their associations with my brothers. You don’t really expect me to marry one of them knowing what I do about each. Jonathan drinks, Wilby gambles, Cline whores it up with every willing woman...”
“Eleanor! That language will not be tolerated!”
“That is what I mean.” She threw her hands up in desperation. “You see? I am not fit to marry. And if I did, would that man be willing to let me hunt, or fish, or borrow trousers to go riding? God forbid I should want to read!”
“Of course not, don’t be absurd.”
“Then I would have to sneak off behind his back to do those things. No doubt he would think I was having an affair and then it would all go to hell.”
“Eleanor! You must not curse! From this moment forward you will start to act the lady if I have to confine you to your room and feed you nothing but bread and water. And there will be no more visits by that band of friends of yours.”
Bloody hell, this was serious. “Mother! You can’t possibly be so cruel?”
“I had hoped that sending you off to finishing school would tame you a little. Instead, it gave you whole new ways to cause mischief. But you are right, to keep you from your friends would be cruel, but if you don’t come around I will. I swear I will.”
Her mother dropped into one of the overstuffed chairs near the fireplace. The exhaustion from dealing with her only daughter showed clearly on the woman’s face. Her mother looked older to her all of a sudden. Was she really that difficult?
“Mother? Why is it so important to you that I marry? Can’t Papa just give me a little cottage somewhere, and a stipend? If I had those I wouldn’t need a man to take care of me.”
“You girls and your modern ideas. Of course you need a man. Who will protect you? How will you survive without a man to manage things?”
“You do most of the managing around here and father is never around but for the odd dinner and then he is off again.”
“You would do well to marry someone like your father. He is a wonderful man, loyal, a man of his word.” Her mother got a little misty-eyed but she never said she loved him. Eleanor’s dog Alderson was loyal and he was a better hunter than any of her brothers. “Your father was a great help when I was... in desperate need.”
“And that is why you fell in love with him?”
“Of a sort, yes. But we both understood the needs of society. Your father would be duke after his father, he needed to be able to move in political circles. He needed a wife who was capable of functioning well on her own. We were a good match. You will see, marriage has its advantages.”
“Father got a woman to manage his house and hostess his parties, someone to bear him heirs, but what did you get out of the bargain?”
Her mother sat stone still for a moment. “Security, my dear. A roof over my head, an allowance that bought me beautiful dresses, and most importantly, my children. Your father has never denied me anything.”
“I’ve heard you say you loved to paint when you were younger and had to give it up.”
“I had four unruly young boys at the time. Sacrifices had to be made.”
“But what about your riding?” Her mother looked at her in near shock. She tried to soothe the wounded look on her mother’s face by continuing. “I overheard you talking to Ozzie once about how you used to love to gallop over the fields with your friend.”
“Your father never stopped me from riding, I did that myself.”
“Because he was happier without you doing it. He didn’t even need to ask, did he? You did it to yourself. Don’t you see? A woman is expected to chip little pieces of herself away to become the paragon of virtue, while the man can go on as he always has or worse if he marries a woman of wealth. And what can she do about it? Nothing. Her money is now his all because she was born without something dangling between her legs.”
“Eleanor!”
“But mother, please listen to me. I will die a thousand deaths trapped in a marriage.”
“You will adapt. That chipping away is how an artist carves a masterpiece. True, you will have to rein in parts of your exuberance, but you will have the joy of children.”
“I’d be happier with a good hunting dog.”
“Really Eleanor.”
“Sorry. There is not a man in the whole of England who will allow me to read what I like, when I like, hunt as I like, fish as I like. Why I can’t even get my brothers to share their blasted newspapers. It isn’t as if they do more than scan the headlines.”
“I’ve told you to just take the fashion and gossip sections, they never bother with those.”
“I want real news mother. I need to know what is going on in the world around me.”
“Eleanor, it does no good for a woman to be too informed. It is unseemly, next you’ll start trying to talk about a tax vote and scare off all potential suitors.”
“Why would I want someone who was scared off by my having an opinion? Mother, it isn’t like in your day. Truthfully, I think it probably is, more than I would like, and that is why I will never marry. Please believe me, being surrounded by men my whole life and not once having my opinion taken seriously, never once being consulted as to what I thought best for my own gender, my own person… How could you think I would want to spend the rest of my life like that?”
“Eleanor, my decision is final. Dresses have been ordered and we will have to go for a few fittings.” Eleanor winced, she would not torture her rotten brothers with dress fittings. Though the thought of her hulking brother Edward trussed up in stays and being stuck with pins did bring a smile to her face. “See, if you would give a man a smile like that I’m sure he’d let you read a little of his paper after he was done with it.”
Eleanor jumped to her feet. “Mother, please, you don’t know what you are asking of me.”
“It is no more than any other girl your age should do. I’m sure those girls you befriended will marry soon, not among the Ton of course, but Louisa is pretty enough and has a large dowry, the academic’s daughter is somewhat less... gifted, but I’m sure she will make a match among her kind. Then there is the other one...”
Eleanor gritted her teeth. If her mother had one cross word to say about Virtue she would not be held responsible for her actions.
“She is beautiful, though her unfortunate station in life makes that almost a moot point.” Eleanor took in long drags of air to keep herself calm. Unfortunately what her mother said was true. Being a duke’s by-blow would be one thing if she were acknowledged but no one knew who her father was, not even Virtue. Just that he was a duke who was looking after her of a fashion.
“We have all agreed to never marry.” It wasn’t quite that dramatic but the end result was the same.
“Then you are all foolish.” Her mother looked as if she had just sucked an unripe persimmon. “I’m sure if you are a sweet and dutiful wife your husband will have no problem with those girls coming to call during social hours.”
“Social hours? My friendships will be relegated to afternoon calls. I suppose I should count myself lucky that he would let me see them at all.”
“Some won’t, it hasn’t done you any good mixing with the lower classes. True, the girls are well mannered enough when they’re here but still.”
“I will go to father with this. He wo
n’t allow me to be bundled off to be broodmare to some fop.”
“Your father and I discussed this last night and we are in complete agreement.”
“Mother please! I’ll do anything... Short of tossing aside my friends.”
“Eleanor, my dearest daughter, I know you girls have your modern ideas but a husband and children can have a steadying influence in your life.”
“As long as I am willing to acquiesce to him at every turn. If I wanted him to vote a certain way on a bill before the House of Lords, I should persuade him to see the validity of my opinion? And I would be expected to give up any thoughts of voting myself?”
“Eleanor, women have never voted and I don’t know that they ever will. You girls and your ideas, really. The thought is laughable.”
“Why is it laughable?”
“Because men protect us from the realities of the world and I for one appreciate that. You would do well to also.”
“Mother, I’m not like you. I can’t close my eyes and pretend that I’ve disappeared.” Her mother actually looked hurt at the jibe. “I just mean...”
“I know exactly what you meant. You do not understand the value of my choices but you didn’t have to make them, I did.”
“But you want me to make the same choices?”
“No, I’m saying your father and I have decided it is time for you to choose a husband. At this point, we are giving you the leeway to make the choice yourself. If it becomes obvious you are stalling, then we will take matters into our own hands.”
“Suppose no one offers for me?”
Her mother gave her a sidelong glance and then her face softened. “Is that what you are worried about? Eleanor, you are a lovely girl and your father will give you a generous dowry, not too generous mind you, we don’t want to encourage that kind of man.”
“But what if no one comes forward?”
“Some man will. You have many excellent qualities and then there is the chance to align himself with our family. Many men would take you even without a dowry. I expect you will be married before the season is over.”
“I won’t.”
“You will. Now I won’t hear any more on the subject. I’ve already made an appointment with the modiste.”
Eleanor threw herself face first on to the divan in an unladylike fit of pique. “Please, not the modiste. I detest being stuck with pins and trapped inside all day.”
“Regardless, you will be going to the modiste tomorrow and then we will go for tea with the Duchesses Winstock and Polgate.” The groan was out of her mouth before she could stop it. Her mother said nothing, just got up from her chair and left, taking the book with her. At least if her mother argued there was a chance Eleanor could persuade her but her quitting the field entirely meant there was nothing to be done but fight another day.
Chaos’s Consort Chapter Two
The minute her mother left the drawing room Eleanor tossed her embroidery across it. She’d have preferred throwing it in the fire but being summer it would just have gotten sooty not singed. She despised embroidery. The damned needles always pricked her fingers. And to what end, so she could make pillows for her husband’s house? At least fishhooks brought you fish to eat.
“Why can’t a woman stay unmarried?” She asked no one in particular since her older brothers were off somewhere, no doubt having fabulous adventures. As if she alone should want to hitch herself to some idiot spendthrift earl. Why did men think all women wanted to get married? Real security, a home of one’s own and an income would do her quite nicely instead. She’d seen and heard her brothers talk about the women they danced with, more importantly, the women they would never be seen in polite company with. They must think her deaf and blind not to notice the way their eyes roved a crowd looking for the widows and mistresses. No, thank you. She would do all she could to avoid the fate of being married to someone like them.
Mother would be a tougher nut to convince. She was more excited about the upcoming season than Eleanor. “Let her suffer through it then.”
“Talking to yourself again?”
Eleanor whipped around to see her three best friends. She should have expected they would know to show up. At Barton’s Finishing School for Girls the teachers swore they shared a single mind. When one would get in trouble the rest knew the precise alibi that would get her out of it.
“Louisa, I know you believe in true love but you haven’t lived with my brothers.”
“I can think of a couple of things I would like do with your brother Edward.”
“Virtue! You know he is completely unsuitable for you. He is a second son and you need to marry... Oswald should be the one you have your eye set on.” Eleanor almost laughed at the face Virtue pulled. Ozzie and Virtue avoided each other well and completely.
“Eleanor, marriage need not be thought of as a prison. It could allow you plenty of time to take up a hobby, or put your mind to some task more involved than causing fights between your brothers.”
“Minerva, we can’t all be bluestockings. Some of us like to get our hands dirty.”
“I’ll have you know I get my hands dirty all the time!” The rest tittered at Minerva’s pique.
“I meant with something other than real dirt, dear.”
“So what has you in such a snit, Eleanor?” Leave it to Virtue to get down to the marrow.
“Let me ring for tea and then the meeting of the Heiresses of Eris can begin.” The entire group smiled. Minerva had anointed them with that name while they were all still causing mischief in school. It applied then to the odd assortment of personalities thrown together in their suite but they had become fast friends despite their differences in personality and position. Now, it was the moniker they gathered under at the odd ball or dinner they attended.
Each of the young women was completely unsuitable for marriage in one way or another and they long ago decided they would rather take up their faults as a sword than be beaten with them as a cudgel. Eleanor was the hellion baby sister of four demon brothers. Any woman growing up in their presence would be forgiven for thinking marriage a prison of the worst sort.
Then there was the inaptly named Virtue. The by-blow daughter of an unknown duke and his mistress. She was by far the most beautiful and used it to full effect on the male population. If the circumstances of her birth didn’t scare off all the appropriate men, the false rumors of her bedding half the male population of the continent certainly did.
Minerva, was, well, plain, poor, and a bluestocking. If she had just been one of the three it would have been bad enough, but all of them was too much for anyone to overcome. And then there were her spectacles.
Then there was poor Louisa. She longed for marriage unlike the rest of them. The fact that she was rich as Croesus should have made the situation easy, but that she was so shy and so completely dominated by her grasping merchant parents made all but the most craven men run the other direction. Worse, the girl actually believed in true love. After the years in boarding school the four were now firmly bonded to each other. To take on one was to take them all.
With tea delivered and poured, Eleanor launched into her announcement. “Mother has decided I have stalled long enough. I am to enter the marriage mart post haste, she will not be dissuaded.” Her shoulders fell. She would never admit it, even to these, her closest friends, but it wasn’t only that she disdained marriage, she actually feared it, the way some women were afraid of spiders.
Her brothers had inadvertently let her know just what went on in the marriage bed. She found it confusing and just a little revolting to be honest. The thought that there were women who did such things willingly. And to hear her brothers talk, far more scandalous things to boot, made her head spin and think maybe Minerva wasn’t so silly to hide behind her books.
“There are worse things, they could opt to send you to the country, permanently.” Louisa gave a little shiver of revulsion.
“Louisa, I would be quite happy in the country. There are few ba
lls, almost no musicales, and there is plenty of fishing and hunting. Yes, I would love to live in the country.”
Louisa drew back in horror. Her family never went outside London. To her, the country was as foreign as America and quite as backward.
“I don’t know why you are making such a fuss.” Virtue interjected. “You attend a ball or two. Stand in a corner, no one will talk to you and there will be no invitations and no offers for your hand.”
“Virtue, she is the legitimate daughter of a duke, who is not penniless. She would need to be wall-eyed and have one leg shorter than the other to be deemed un-marriageable.” Minerva patted Virtue’s hand. Virtue’s mother and her mysterious ducal father had already forced a season on her and her advice might have worked for her but it would not for Eleanor. Minerva suddenly brightened.
“What? I know that look. Your eyes sparkle when you have a really devious plan. Minerva, help me, please. I dread the thought of fittings and fawning.”
“I’m afraid I can’t help with the fittings but we can probably make the effort more fun and you’ll only have to endure the one season.”
“Just the one?”
“One, one wholly scandalous, completely wicked season.”
“Oh, Minerva. You do know how to bait a hook for our poor Eris don’t you?” Virtue grinned with glee. “Can I assume you’ll have a part for each of us?”
“Possibly, I’ve only just thought of it so there are still details to work out.”
“Well, tell us! I am dying to know how you can keep me an old maid.”
“First, you need to attend a few balls.”
“The point was to avoid those.”
“No, in order for this to truly work you need to create a scandal of the highest order and that won’t work if no one knows you.” Each girl nodded her head at the truth of the statement.
“So you attend a few balls, you dance, as much as possible with as many men as possible.”
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