“Bring the cards?” Olivia asked, still chuckling. “On an outing?”
Jarvis turned back to the table and picked up his spoon. “Yes. That way, you can play the cards by yourself while your beau is boring you with the number of his estates or horses.”
“You give the most ridiculous advice. I am starting to doubt my choice of a confidante. Perhaps I should have asked one of my lady friends to help me after all,” Olivia said with a smile.
“My advice is extremely practical,” Jarvis said, feigning affront. He sipped on the soup and Olivia did the same.
“I would rather you told me what I should speak about instead of how to avoid meaningful conversation,” she said a moment later.
“Nobody talks about anything meaningful on these outings.”
“Then what should I say?”
Jarvis frowned in thought. “I suppose you could ask questions that are of interest to you and that may indicate what kind of husband the gentleman will be. Is he fair? Does he plan to entertain many visitors? Is he planning a career in the House of Lords? Because if he does, his wife is expected to be a society wife.”
Olivia let out a breath. “This is too difficult. I do not even know what I need to find out about him, much less what questions to ask.”
“Gentlemen love to talk about themselves,” Jarvis said between sips of his soup. “You just ask questions about him, and chances are he is going to tell you everything you want and do not want to know.”
“You don’t talk much about yourself,” Olivia pointed out.
Jarvis put down his spoon and looked at her curiously. “Yes, I do.”
“Well, I do not know how you behave with other ladies, but you certainly do not tell anything to me.”
Jarvis smirked. “Other ladies? Olive, you know me better than anyone in the entire world.”
Olivia smiled. “If that is true, then you must not talk with other ladies at all.”
The next day, after breakfast, Olivia finally met up with Caroline and Lavinia to have a private chat. After hugs and a lot of gushing of how they missed each other, they sat in the library with a pot of tea.
They had not seen each other for a few months. Caroline had withdrawn to her uncle—now cousin’s—country house after her uncle’s passing.
“So, tell us, Caroline. Is everything all right? How is the new marquess treating you?” Lavinia asked.
“He is…” Caroline paused in the process of stirring the tea. “He seems quite nice.”
“Nice? How so?” Olivia asked.
“Well, I did not know what to expect of him. When he’d just moved in, he called me to his study, and I was afraid we wouldn’t get along. But he told me that I could stay on the premises of this estate as long as I wanted and that he would take full responsibility for my well-being.”
“That is quite nice,” Olivia said.
“Yes, apparently he did not know that I am to be married. That is to say, he seemed relieved when I informed him of that fact. He probably didn’t want to be saddled with another female relative. He already has one.”
“Yes, I heard he has a niece. What is she like?” Olivia asked.
“I haven’t spent much time in her company, actually. Her name is Victoria, and she has a… friend or a lady’s maid. Or maybe she is her companion, I am not quite sure. But they seem to spend most of their time together. They rarely speak English in the house, so I have trouble understanding their speech. I am certain they do not do it to exclude me, I just do not think either of them speaks much English.”
“Truly? What language do they speak?”
“I think it is Russian, but I do not understand a word of it, so I wouldn’t know. It might be German. Maybe both? I truly do not know. The Marquess of Roth is from Prussia, so I would assume they speak the same language as him, although he does have a better command of English than they do. But honestly, I do not mind being on my own. I was afraid they would insist on me teaching them the ways of society, but they seem uninterested in English life so far. I wonder if they are planning to leave soon.”
“But you are well? Are you happy?” Lavinia chimed in.
Caroline smiled sadly. “I wouldn’t say happy, no. I suppose it would be difficult for me to be happy any time soon, but I am… content.”
“This is good.” Lavinia smiled.