The comment was a bit unjust. That was the age at which Matilda had married Charles, Viscount Dirkson, two years ago. It had been her first marriage.
“That is unfair, Louise,” the dowager countess said. “Matilda would have married Charles—yes, the same Charles—at the age of twenty if her father and I had not stepped in, very ill-advisedly as it turned out, to stop her.”
“No doubt you did what you considered the right thing at the time, my lady,” Miss Adelaide Boniface, Edith’s companion, said soothingly.
“Jessica danced with Mr. Rochford before supper,” Mildred said. “He was much in demand with the young ladies all evening. He is very handsome, and appears to be exceedingly charming too. Also well mannered. I noticed that he sought an introduction to Jessica before the dancing even began, and he did it the correct way, by applying to Louise. He was very attentive to Jessica while they danced. She looked as if she might be interested.”
“Who is Mr. Rochford?” the dowager countess wanted to know.
“He is soon to be heir to the earldom of Lyndale, Mama,” Louise explained. “As soon as the missing earl has finally been declared dead later this summer, that is, and Mr. Rochford’s father becomes the new earl.”
“Yes, of course,” her mother said. “I know all about that. I had just forgotten the young man’s name. He is as handsome as everyone says he is, then?”
“He is said to have red hair,” Edith said. “I can never quite like red hair on a man.”
“But his is a dark red,” Cousin Althea said. “It is actually very attractive. He is very attractive. He would be a splendid match for Jessica, Louise.”
“As she would be for him,” Louise agreed. “But I begin to despair of her.”
“Perhaps,” Viola said, “something can be done to encourage a match with Mr. Rochford, Louise? He really is a good-looking man, though I did think last evening’s choice of waistcoat rather unfortunate. Marcel, the silly man, commented that all the guests ought to have been issued with dark eyeglasses to avoid the danger of being blinded.”
Matilda chuckled. “I must tell Charles that one,” she said.
“The American gentleman caused something of a stir too,” Althea said. “He is Lady Vickers’s kinsman, Eugenia, and her godson—and Sir Trevor’s. He is not actually American, but he has recently returned from several years spent there. He is a fine figure of a man. Very elegant. He also was introduced to Jessica—by Lady Parley herself.”
“He did not dance with her,” Louise said. “I am not sure he even asked. Jessica said nothing about him afterward.”
“He waltzed with Estelle,” Viola said. “She said afterward that she enjoyed his company, though she says that of most of her partners.”
“Rumor has it he is very wealthy,” Althea said. “Unsubstantiated rumors are not always to be trusted, of course. And no one seems to know a great deal about him or what he was doing in America—or what he did before he went there, for that matter. There is a certain air of mystery about him. I daresay that is part of his appeal.”
“Are you thinking of him for Estelle, Viola?” Mildred asked.
“I am constantly thinking of everyone for Estelle,” Viola said with a laugh. “But she has a mind of her own. She has yet to show any real interest in marrying.”
“Girls are not as they were in my day,” the dowager countess said with a shake of the head.
“I hear of both Mr. Rochford and the American wherever I go,” Matilda said. “I assume it is Mr. Thorne you were speaking of, Althea? Lady Vickers has not been shy in putting it about that he is wealthy, so I daresay it is true. She would lose considerable face if it turned out that he was a pauper. I look forward to meeting both gentlemen. And I agree with you, Viola. Perhaps we really ought to start thinking of ways to throw Mr. Thorne into Estelle’s path again, and Mr. Rochford into Jessica’s.”
“We?” Mildred asked, her eyebrows raised. She took the cream pastry after all, since no one else had removed temptation from her reach, and bit into it with slow caution.
“Well, if the past few years are anything to judge by, they are not doing much to help themselves, are they?” Matilda said. “What they need is a helping hand. Not to attract the gentlemen. Good heavens, they are both unusually lovely girls and could not possibly be more eligible if they