Last Chance for the Charming Ladies: A Clean & Sweet Regency Historical Romance Collection

by Fanny Finch

  Unfortunately, agreeing to be the escort for Miss Worthing meant he had more of a societal obligation than before. Mr. Worthing had not come right out and said so—it would not be polite—but Edward could tell this was the girl’s one and only season. Her one chance.

  She could not, therefore, afford to miss a single engagement. That meant that Edward had to be at every single engagement.

  It was a rather taxing prospect.

  He would be assaulted on all sides by the unmarried women and their mothers. They did not even do him the courtesy of being subtle about it! It attacked a man’s patience, that was for certain.

  But he would have to suffer through it for Miss Worthing’s sake. And for his sister’s.

  With Father gone, Georgiana could select a man of her choice. She had already had to lose one suitor because of Father’s exacting standards. Edward did not wish for her to have her heart broken a second time.

  As though summoned by his thoughts, there came a knock at the door and his sister poked her head in.

  “May I come in?” she asked.

  Edward smiled at her. “Of course you may.”

  Miss Georgiana Reginald was a lady of quiet, dignified beauty. She had remarkably pale hair, and thoughtful gray eyes set in a fine-boned face. She looked almost like a statue when she stood still. There was a sort of slow grace to her movements, like a ballerina caught in slow motion.

  She was not the sort to light up a ballroom. But there was art to the curve of her neck, the droop of her eyelids. If a man thought to look a second time, she never failed to entrance.

  All their lives, the two siblings had been mistaken for twins. They had the same defined cheekbones, the same wide, gray eyes. The same long nose. Even the same snow-colored hair.

  Edward, however, was five and twenty, while Georgiana was two and twenty.

  He did worry for her. Two and twenty was approaching the time of danger. The time when a woman could hear others begin to claim that she was past her prime.

  It was a dangerous thing. Georgiana was quite all right for now with a rich brother. Edward would have sooner cut off his own arm than refuse to take care of her. Georgiana had been his sweet companion, and the only source of calm in the house all his life.

  But there would come a time when Edward might not be around anymore. He feared for that time. His first act as the duke was to set up an account for Georgiana so that she might have an annual income should anything happen to him.

  One never knew, though, did one? Father had been in the prime of health. And then a ridiculous riding accident had taken that all away.

  After all, Edward thought, no matter how strong a man is, he cannot be strong enough to recover from a broken neck.

  He must respond to all these invitations in the positive, for Georgiana’s sake if nothing else. She must find a husband.

  “Is something the matter?” Edward asked. He sat down and began to sort out the invitations. He had to have a thorough understanding of their social calendar, after all. And make sure that there were no two parties on the same day.

  “Must something be the matter for me to wish to see my brother?” Georgiana teased him.

  “No, of course not.” Edward smiled at her. “But there is something you wish to discuss.”

  “Only that the rooms are all ready for Miss Worthing’s arrival,” Georgiana replied. She eyed the invitations in his hand. “I can take care of those for you, Edward.”

  “I know. And I wish that you would. But I ought to at least know what I am getting myself into.”

  “That is a fair enough approach, I suppose.” Georgiana sat down and held out her hand. “May I?”

  Edward handed over the invitations. Georgiana began to leaf through them. “There are quite a lot. I should think we will drop dead by the time the season is over.”

  “There are dinners, and balls after the dinners, and invitations to join various members in their theatre boxes for performances. And none of this includes morning calls,” Edward said.

  “Well, if we cannot find the girl a husband after all of this, then I shall eat my hat,” Georgiana said. “The benefits of having a title, dear brother. No one dares not invite you.”

  “There are many on there that we might refuse,” Edward said quickly. “Quite a few people are enough beneath our station that we are most likely expected to refuse, even.”

  Georgiana nodded absently, still looking at the invitations. “Yes, but Miss Worthing is beneath our station as well, Edward. She has no title and her father’s income although good is not to the amount that one would expect of an acquaintance of ours.”

  “Yes, true, our fathers were friends due to having estates next to one another in their youth, or so Father told me.”

  “For her sake, we must accept these other invitations, so that she might also find someone who is not so intimidatingly above her,” Georgiana said.

  “Who is to say that she might not marry a baron or an earl?”

  “Well, no one is to say that, of course, Edward. But if she can marry a man of five thousand a year as well as an earl then why not introduce her to the former in addition to the latter?

  “She knows no one. She ought to make the acquaintance of as many men as possible. It increases her chances of being proposed to by the time the season is up.”

  “At this rate she will have little chance to make an impression on anyone. As soon as she meets a man she will be whisked off to meet another.”

  “Careful, brother, your bitterness is showing.” Georgiana organized the invitations into a neat pile and set them on the side table. “Which reminds me that Miss Worthing is not the only person in need of a spouse.”

  “Yes, I am well aware of your predicament—”

  “I meant yourself, brother. Not me.”

  Edward sighed. “Must we discuss this?”

  “It is your duty.”

  “I am well aware of my duty, Georgiana. Do not think that I am neglecting it.”

  “But you do dread it,” Georgiana noted. “I have seen it in how you avoid the subject. The way you look at those invitations as if they are bearers of the plague. Admit it, Edward. You do not wish to marry.”

  “Of course I wish to marry,” Edward replied. “It is only that I do not wish to marry any of the girls of my acquaintance.”

  “Then we shall have to find some young ladies who are not of your previous acquaintance,” Georgiana said. “There has to be at least one woman in the whole of England who does not put you off your breakfast.”

  “Find me a woman who is not simpering and who doesn’t say only the things she thinks I want to hear,” Edward replied. “Find me a woman who does not give into society’s habits of malicious gossip and throws herself at a man not because she cares for his character but because she cares for his money.

  “Find me a woman who is honest about who she is and how she feels. Find me a woman who doesn’t care that I have a title. A woman who would love me if I was one of those men who only had a couple thousand a year.”

  His sister arched one eyebrow at him. “You make it sound as if these are Herculean tasks.”

  “They are, apparently, for I have yet to find a woman who embodies them.” Edward knew that he sounded bitter but he couldn’t help himself.

  “Careful, Edward. It will not help you to let anger claim your heart. Women can sense such things and they are repelled by them. All the ladies will inevitably fear that you will turn that wrath on them someday if they are to marry you.”

  “Perhaps I should cultivate it, then. It might scare them off.”

  Georgiana sighed. She reached out and took his hand. “Edward. You will not find love unless you open yourself up to the possibility of it. Nothing can find its way through a closed door. And I think you judge many women too harshly.

  “If you recall, Father wanted me to behave as they do. And these are women who depend upon a husband for their livelihood. They cannot enter into business or the clergy or th
e military.

  “Is it not understandable that they should throw themselves at you a little? That they should try to win you over? This is their entire life we are talking about. This is not merely a matter of the heart. Sometimes I wish that it were.

  “These women treat marriage as a business and in a way for them it is. It is what saves them from poverty.”

  Edward squeezed his sister’s hand, seeing how he had upset her. “I am so sorry, my dear.”

  Georgiana was not one prone to crying. When she was upset, however, her cheeks went pink. They were quite pink now, two small spots of color high up on her pale cheeks.

  “It is nothing,” she said, trying to wave it off.

  “No, it is far from nothing. I should have been more considerate.”

  Georgiana had loved, once. Edward had approved of the man. He had been possessed of a steady temper and a soft wit. What was more he had loved Georgiana to distraction in a quiet, unassuming way that Edward had admired.

  Edward was personally too given over to expressing his passions. Or so Father had been fond of saying. Indeed, Father had approved of the man’s character.

  The man’s lack of fortune, however, was another matter entirely.

  Georgiana had been instructed to not even see the man once her suitor’s intentions were known. Father had said that the man was nothing more than a social climber. He was obviously after Georgiana for her money and status, he claimed.

  Edward knew that was not so. As did Georgiana. Her suitor had been an honorable one. But there was no arguing with Father when he made up his mind about something.

  The man had gone into the Navy, the last that Edward had heard of him. That had been four years ago.

  Since then, Georgiana had not even come close to love. He thought that her suitors could sense it in her. She was polite and sweet enough. She had always possessed a marvelous temper, if a little on the quiet side.

  But it was as though the potential suitors could read it written on her forehead. She did not and would not love them. And whether men wished to admit it or not, they wanted to be loved just as much as women did.

  And so there had been no other suitors since that gentleman.

  “Love is a luxury that women can scarce afford,” Georgiana admitted. “Do not begrudge these women for doing what they must.”

  “But there is a way to do it with grace and thoughtfulness,” Edward replied. “These women are making themselves into fools. I can see right through them. Surely there is a way to set about getting a husband without compromising who one is.

  “And I will not stand for a wife who plays these flirtatious little games with everyone. Who discredits other women and thinks of nothing but the shallow.

  “I want a woman of strong character. One who is true to herself. So far I have yet to find that either in the daughters of dukes or the daughters of simpler men.”

  “That is a fair assessment,” Georgiana acknowledged. “But there must be at least a few who have not compromised their character in such a manner. We will find them for you.”

  “It concerns me that you are more thoughtful of my finding a wife than you are of finding yourself a husband.”

  “I am not the one with a title to protect,” Georgiana pointed out.

  “Ah, but you are the one swiftly approaching an age that is no longer considered marriageable.”

  “I have heard of ladies who were married as late as seven and twenty,” Georgiana replied. She pressed her lips together for a moment, a sure sign that she was trying to hold back what she was thinking. But then she spoke, apparently deciding it was worth saying.

  “Father is dead and I am sorry for it. I loved him in spite of the injuries he did to both of us. He did not mean to be harsh. And if he did it was because he thought it would give us the backbone we needed.

  “I know that he loved us in his own way and cared for us. He wanted the best for us. I am not saying I am glad that he is dead. But now that he is gone I have the freedom to choose someone for whom I hold the highest esteem.”

  “You certainly do,” Edward assured her. “I will of course wish to judge his character. Only the best of men will do for my sweet sister.”

  Georgiana smiled at him. “Thank you.”

  “But as to their wealth or status—so long as they are respectable and can support you, I have no objections. You need not have your suitors run a gauntlet of criteria with me as they would have with Father.”

  Georgiana nodded. “I am not a fool. I know that my time is fast approaching and that I must be wary of it. There are always younger ladies coming up behind who know how to entice.

  “But now that Father is dead I have the luxury of finding a man who suits my temper. Not his. And I will hold to that.”

  “I think that is admirable of you,” Edward told her.

  After all, he could hardly complain about the way women were treating him and then go and tell his sister to do the same to other men.

  “I wonder what Miss Worthing will think of all this,” Georgiana said. “Life out on an island in the colonies cannot be at all similar to London. Although I’m sure the people there do try their best.”

  “No doubt she will be overwhelmed,” Edward acknowledged. The poor girl would probably be quite reticent at first. He knew that he would be, if he was in her position.

  He was actually rather curious about this Miss Worthing. He wondered what she would be like. He had grown up with women who were raised in London society.

  To meet one who was just now being introduced to it sounded to him like a fascinating prospect. He was curious, and perhaps too much so, as to how Miss Worthing would react to the society around her.

  Perhaps it was just that he himself was so jaded. It would be a change to see someone who had not yet gotten a chance to get used to everything that he had come to take for granted.

  But then, Miss Worthing could be a spoiled or boring person. They knew a bit about her from Mr. Worthing’s letters to Father over the years.

  For example, they knew that she was an only child and that she had taken over running the household after her mother’s death. They knew that she had a great deal of energy, or so her father said. But to a sickly man like Mr. Worthing, a normal amount of energy probably seemed like a great deal.

  And they did have a general description of her so that they might pick up the right girl from the station in the carriage.

  But as to the details of her disposition, neither Edward nor Georgiana knew. Children lacking siblings could sometimes be spoiled. Especially when in an isolated environment, such as an island plantation.

  She could be withdrawn and shy. Or she might be demanding and rude. Edward sincerely hoped that she was of a cheerful and good-natured manner. But in any case, they had promised to look after her, and they would.

  Georgiana had read the part addressed to her in the letters—about Miss Worthing’s elocution.

  “Do you expect you will have your work cut out for you?” Edward asked.

  Georgiana pressed her lips together and thought for a moment. “I cannot say. Her father seems despairing of her manners although he praises her intelligence. He could be too hard on her as our father was. Or she could be a veritable native.”

  “Let us hope it is the former,” Edward said gravely. “I have no wish to see our house and reputation destroyed by an uncouth lady.”

  “Her father is a well-spoken man,” Georgiana said. “And seems both thoughtful and sensible in his letters. I am sure that his daughter holds at least some of his disposition.”

  “You and I have both met children who are nothing like their parents. You are hardly at all like Father.”

  “Yet our parents influence us,” Georgiana replied, “whether we wish it or not. I do not think that someone who managed to endear themselves to Father so, and who has spoken so sensibly and kindly in their letters to us, could have such an awful child.”

  “I hope that you are right,” Edward said. “But
you are more forgiving and hopeful towards humanity than I am.”

  “I do wish that you would not let bitterness cloud your judgment so,” Georgiana said. “You are far too good of a gentleman for that.”

  “When I can find myself true friends instead of false and a lady with a sense of honor, then my bitterness shall fade,” Edward told her. “Until then, let us look at these invitations together. We must plan our calendar for the season.”

  His mind continued to dwell, at least in part, on the subject of Miss Worthing.

  Hopefully, she would be a lovely girl. And he could grow to think of her as a sister of some sort.