Improper (The Phoenix Club #1) - Darcy Burke Page 0,19

London’s primary attractions firsthand had been exhilarating. Fiona couldn’t wait for her first promenade during the fashionable hour.

“Wonderful!” Lady Cassandra sat on a chaise and leaned back, bringing her feet onto the cushion. “Is Mansfield on your list of potential husbands?”

Fiona perched on another chaise but didn’t lie back. “I don’t have a list.” She wanted to tell her she had no plans to wed but also didn’t want to sound provincial or silly. “Do you have one?”

Lady Cassandra laughed briefly. “No. My father does, but I choose to ignore him. It’s a miracle I persuaded him to let me wait this long to come out. I’m twenty-one, for heaven’s sake. Almost on the shelf.”

It definitely seemed as though Lady Cassandra’s mother was no longer living, but Fiona wouldn’t ask about it tonight. Hopefully this would be the beginning of a friendship in which they commiserated about a great many things. “Is that true? I’ll be twenty-two in just a few weeks.”

“I’ll be twenty-two in May, and yes, we are not as young as we ought to be.” She snorted. “But can you imagine being chained to a husband at seventeen or eighteen?” She shuddered.

“No, but then I can’t imagine being chained to a husband now.” She clamped her lips together as if she could somehow stop the words, but it was too late, of course. “Nor can I imagine anything about being in London, but here I am.” She forced a laugh to cover her mistake.

Lady Cassandra swung her feet back to the floor and sat up. She did not angle her legs as Lady Pickering had instructed. And she leaned slightly forward, her eyes animated. “Miss Wingate, do you even wish to marry?”

Fiona wanted to expose her true feelings to this new friend, but Lady Cassandra was the daughter of a duke. On the other hand, she’d also asked for biscuits to keep a maid from eavesdropping on their conversation. Squaring her shoulders, Fiona said definitively, “No.”

Clapping her hands together, Lady Cassandra rocked back with a delighted chortle. “Oh, this is excellent! You are being forced into this absurdity just like me.” She straightened and looked directly into Fiona’s eyes. “Now we don’t have to do it alone.” Her gaze shot to Prudence, who stood to Fiona’s right. “But I suppose you weren’t anyway. You have a supportive young companion—a friend.” She sounded…envious.

“And now I have another friend. You must call me Fiona.”

“Then you must call me Cassandra. We will make the best of the time we have left. Hopefully we can delay having to accept a proposal until the very end of the Season.”

“That would be lovely. I, er, haven’t told Lord Overton that I don’t wish to wed. I don’t think he’d understand.” Then again, Fiona hadn’t been sure Cassandra would either.

“Probably not. Men like him have a duty to marry, and women like us are expected to fulfill that duty.” Cassandra lip curled ever so slightly. “And why don’t you want to marry?”

“It’s so…final. And limiting? I’ve been stuck in a very small town with very few options for so very long.”

“That’s a great many verys.”

“It’s so very lovely to be somewhere else. With other people.”

“You want to experience some freedom,” Cassandra said with an understanding smile. “As much freedom as we’re allowed anyway.” She looked toward Prudence. “What are you doing to help Fiona?”

“We walked to Hyde Park yesterday morning since she hadn’t been there.”

“An excellent start.” Cassandra turned her gaze back to Fiona. “Monday we must go to Gunter’s.”

“Lord Overton is taking me to the British Museum on Monday. I can hardly wait.”

“Tuesday then. We must also visit Hatchards, Fortnum and Mason, and it would be ever so wonderful to take you shopping in Cheapside.” She frowned. “I’m not allowed to do that, but my aunt has secretly taken me twice.”

Fiona grinned, so glad she’d met Cassandra. “That all sounds splendid. I want to see everything.”

“And the Phoenix Club!” Cassandra exclaimed. “That’s the best part of finally having a Season. Now I can see for myself what takes up so much of my brother’s time.”

“What is the Phoenix Club?” Fiona asked.

“For us, it’s like Almack’s but so much better.” Cassandra paused, riveting her gaze to Fiona. “Are you familiar with Almack’s?”

“Only that there are weekly balls later in the Season, and one of the patronesses must invite you or something.”

“That’s about right. It’s very exclusive and is the premier location of the Marriage Mart. It’s also dreadfully boring, and the food and drink