The Wedding Game by Jane Feather Read Free Book Online Page A

that for some people the ‘pillness' of her would be irrelevant, if other features could be seen as compensations.”
    “Yes . . . ?” Constance said with an interrogatively raised eyebrow.
    “Do you think she's in the market for a husband?” Chastity asked. “It's the only reason why anyone would go through all the palaver and expense of presentation at Court and the Season. Particularly at her age.”
    Her sisters were nodding in unison. “How old do you think she is?” Prudence inquired with a frown. “Late twenties, early thirties?”
    “Without being ungenerous,” Constance said, clearly unconcerned about generosity, “I would say more likely early-to-mid thirties. Did you notice the lines at the corners of her mouth, and under her eyes?”
    “They could just come from a disagreeable nature,” Chastity pointed out judiciously. “People who frown a lot and pull down their mouths often get premature lines, I've noticed.”
    “Let's assume that she
is
on the marriage mart and rather anxious. What are you suggesting, Chas?” Prudence came to the point.
    “Well, I think she must have money. Her mother clearly does and she's an only child, at least as far as we know. Houses in Mayfair aren't cheap, and neither is bankrolling a Court presentation and a Season.”
    “Not to mention Arabian mares and villas in
Firenze,
” Constance put in. “I think I know where this is going, Chas.”
    Chastity smiled and sat back against the sofa cushions. “An up-and-coming Society physician who has no particular interest in a congenial wife, merely a rich one . . .”
    Her sisters sat in silence, examining the prospect from every angle. “But do you think our Laura would be interested in a man who is still only up-and-coming?” Prudence asked eventually.
    “I should imagine she would welcome the opportunity to help and instruct him in the right way to go about arriving at the pinnacle of his ambition,” Chastity said. “I can just see her presiding over dinner parties, lecturing all and sundry on the cultural marvels of foreign parts, boring her guests into total submission.”
    She leaned forward to retrieve the bonbon bowl with the tips of her fingers and took another chocolate before adding thoughtfully, “She has something of the bully in her, I think. I'm sure she would relish rounding up patients regardless of objections and delivering them with open wallets to his surgery. It could well be a perfect match.” She popped the chocolate into her mouth and leaned back against the cushions again.
    “Your Dr. Farrell is a bully?” Prudence asked, exchanging a quick, frowning glance with Constance.
    Chastity shrugged. “I don't know, really, but his tone when he talked of his potential patients was so contemptuous . . .” She hesitated, then said, “Anyway, I think they might deserve each other. I certainly wouldn't feel we were condemning a defenseless woman to a marriage of convenience with an unfeeling man.”
    “All right,” Constance agreed. “Let's put them together and see what happens. We can't
make
them decide to marry. If they don't suit, they'll decide that for themselves.”
    “Your next At Home, Con?” Prudence suggested.
    “No, I think it should be mine,” Chastity said quickly. “At Manchester Square, next Wednesday.”
    “Any particular reason?” Prudence asked.
    “Well, I had two ideas, if you remember.” Chastity was smiling now, the frown that seemed to accompany any discussion about Dr. Douglas Farrell no longer in evidence. “What do you think of Father and the contessa?”
    “I think I like it,” Constance said. Then she frowned. “You do realize that would make Laura our stepsister. And we couldn't possibly condemn Father to having her under his roof.”
    “No,” agreed Chastity. “But if we married her off beforehand, it wouldn't be that bad. We wouldn't have to spend time with her except for obligatory family occasions, and neither would Father.”
    “I should think