An Unsuitable Suitor by Sally Britton

Author:Sally Britton [Britton, Sally]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781685270032
Publisher: Pink Citrus Books, LLC

Chapter 10

Somehow, between the end of the Sunday sermon and reaching their carriage, Mattie’s father had extended an invitation to Oliver for that very afternoon and coerced the young man into accepting. Really, it was almost unseemly to see Oliver three days in a row, in such intimate settings as the theater, the house, and church services. Now they would see each other twice within the same day.

If anyone had known, there would certainly be gossip as to what his intentions were regarding Mattie.

Mattie sat before her mirror as her maid finished tidying her hair. At least she didn’t have to wonder about Oliver’s motives for spending time in her company. Of course, it would be best if she stopped enjoying their conversations and instead showed him how wrong Beatrice was for him.

Catching her furrowed brow in the mirror, Mattie nearly groaned aloud.

She’d hardly done a thing to dissuade Oliver from her sister. Hadn’t that been her plan? Wasn’t it the wisest course of action?

Hopefully Beatrice would be engaged when she arrived back in London, and there would be nothing more to worry about. Except, of course, Oliver’s feelings. Would he be greatly injured if Beatrice announced her betrothal? Doubtless he would take pains to avoid the family, at least for a time.

The Season would soon be over when summer’s heat intruded upon London’s busy streets. Oliver would then return to his home in Lincolnshire. It might be another year before she saw him again, if her family even attempted to return to London. Much depended upon her father’s health.

The thought pulled her up abruptly, halting her mind the way a dam halted a winding stream. It had been good to see Oliver, once she’d become used to his grown-up self, to speak to him and be in his company. Being with him brought back memories of happier, simpler days at their estate.

He’d been a tall and lanky boy the first time she saw him, and he’d only stretched out more as he grew. She’d been jealous of him the year they turned fourteen, telling him it wasn’t fair he was half a head taller than she when he was only threescore days older.

“Are you eager to tower over all the men you dance with in London?” he’d asked, his voice cracking with his sense of humor. She’d huffed at him and walked away with all the dignity a girl of that age could possess.

Mattie smiled with the memory.

Her height, which was unremarkably average, didn’t matter much anymore, as she was rarely asked to dance anyway. Unless a man was interested in Beatrice. It hadn’t bothered her, as her lack of partners indicated everyone well knew her desire to remain unwed.

Beatrice had flirted her way about London from the first moment she’d stepped foot on its cobbled road, and she did so without any desire to keep one of her many catches as a husband. While Mattie had never been particularly interested in finding a husband either, her reasons were entirely different from her sister’s.

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