A Fair-Weather Friend by Charlotte Brothers

Author:Charlotte Brothers [Charlotte Brothers]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Charlotte Brothers
Published: 2022-11-22T00:00:00+00:00

Marian sat moodily near the window of her room and looked out over the view. The truth was, she was worried.

The preceding weeks had been a sort of dream, everything she had expected and yearned for since girlhood. With the parties, the winks, and that stirring, romantic thrill in the air whenever Jonas was near, she had felt, until today, that she’d do anything to keep hope alive, that an offer of marriage was imminent, but now she had increasing doubts.

It had been difficult to see most of her friends, and now Eugenia, (who hadn’t even cared to be married at all) engaged or wed while she waited and waited. Now she was beginning to wonder if her eagerness for a new station in life had led her into waters beyond her depth.

She had not meant to lie. She recognized what she had done that day in Mr. Jennings’ office for what it was: she had committed a sin of omission. And she had very nearly confessed it to Jonas’s elder brother downstairs a few minutes ago. When Mr. Jennings and that man had asked her if she was engaged to marry Jonas, she had not the heart to deny it. Instead, she had let them think what they would, and they ran forward on the assumption that Jonas had offered for her or was bound to do so. Which, she supposed, was what she had wanted at the time. Jonas’s conduct had seemed like that of an earnest suitor, but what if he had been using her? She knew that she was often gullible. Numbers, pages, dates, names, figures, these she could understand, but the emotions and sensibilities of people outside her family were, more often than not, strangely puzzling.

Even though Jonas’s older brother was obviously ill-mannered, he gave every indication of being responsible and trustworthy. Qualities that, if she was interpreting hints correctly, Jonas was lacking.

Slowly Marian became aware that she had spent over an hour considering the matter and now it was time to freshen up and join Mrs. Talbot downstairs.

First, her sweet, and rather wispy, hostess took Marian on a complete tour of the house.

When they descended the stairs from the first level to the kitchen and serving quarters, Marian was comforted to observe that Mrs. Talbot was kind to her servants. She was attentive, inquiring after Mrs. Stone’s wrist that apparently pained her frequently, and Mr. Vance’s nephew, who must have pained him in an altogether different way.

It was a modest household, just a wee bit grander than her own home, with two more servants than her parents employed. Even if the dining room was dark and ponderous, with that stiff and old-fashioned formality about it, the parlour and connected sitting room across the front hall were papered with climbing rose prints and were airy and inviting. Soft chairs, books, and various games were set out in the sitting room, as were several books on sport and carriages.

The ladies went up one flight of stairs.

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