He winced. “Can you blame a man for doing all he could to meet a lady as pretty as you? I did apologize to your cousins, too, for my deception when we first met,” he said, and then tugged on his waistcoat. “This is a new beginning. A new season, and I will never let you forget that you had much to recommend you then, too.”
Aurora nodded to a former client as he passed by with a pretty lady on his arm. Scarsdale ought to be doing the same—looking for a wife for himself instead of trying to charm her into liking him better. “Are you to dance with anyone for the next set?”
Scarsdale grunted and looked sour at the thought. “Lady Eloise. My mother arranged it. Again.”
Lady Eloise. Large dowry. Excellent poise and long list of accomplishments that put her atop any list of prospective brides. Aurora liked to keep a catalogue of details about ladies hunting for a husband in her head, in case any one of them might suit a gentleman she knew. She had in the past often relied upon her knowledge to assist the gentlemen clients of the Hillcrest Academy. She did not need to do such things anymore, but old habits die hard.
“Think of her dowry and connections if you must to endure the chore,” she suggested quietly, recalling Scarsdale’s need to eventually marry well to prop up the family fortune. He was not in desperate need yet, but more blunt would certainly increase his comfort in the coming years.
Aurora had exactly the same need for funds, too, but would never consider marriage just to advance herself and secure a better future. But could matchmaking on her own ever pay her way through life? It was an idea she’d entertained before, but her cousins had dismissed the idea of her earning an income out of hand upon their marriages. Yet, if she did not intend to wed, she should do something worthwhile with her life. Matchmaking was certainly worth serious consideration again.
Scarsdale leaned close, lowering his voice to reply, “While Lady Eloise is lovely to look at, she seems too prim.”
Aurora struggled not to roll her eyes. He’d made a promise to dance with a duke’s daughter. He must honor it, or the young lady would suffer the ill effects of a careless slight. “Have you spoken to her beyond commenting on the weather and asking her to dance?”
The earl shuffled his feet. “Not exactly.”
“That is what I knew you would say.” She sucked in a breath. She had never directed any client so boldly before, but if she wanted to make a career of anything, matchmaking was a good place to start. Why not begin with Scarsdale? She hesitated only a moment before offering an opinion. “To have any chance with someone that green, you must make an attempt to get to know her,” she advised. “Draw her out. Use words, not your usual leer and wink and head toss technique. That only works on widows and bored wives. Be honest about your interest but go slow.”
His cheeks colored but he didn’t protest that she misunderstood him. By not speaking, he avoided making promises he didn’t want to keep, too.
Aurora had truly enjoyed the time she’d spent helping gentlemen conquer the marriage mart along with her older cousins, but it could be extremely frustrating with some clients.
She had never lost her instincts, and knowing what men need and want were frequently two different things. The men she’d helped had often looked in the wrong direction when pursuing a bride. Scarsdale didn’t really need to marry a woman with the largest dowry. A modest fortune would do. He needed someone smart enough to keep him in line more. Lady Eloise would do for courting practice at the very least, until Aurora found him a better match.
She would enjoy this.
But first she had to sell him on the idea of making a well-considered match. “As the daughter of the Duke of Eastwick, Lady Eloise had respectable suitors aplenty, and a healthy dowry large enough to attract many more scoundrels into her orbit. But she is a bit of an unknown. Outwardly quiet and proper but her calm demeanor does not signify, in my opinion. I know many women who speak one way in public and change their tune markedly in private,” she warned him. “Lady Eloise could turn out to be exactly the sort of woman you need in your life.”
Scarsdale at least seemed to consider what she had to say.
She turned her head to regard the young lady, standing with her family on the far side of the ballroom. Why couldn’t she be for Scarsdale to marry?
The longer Aurora looked, the more she wished to see them standing side by side. She might not be an easy conquest and Scarsdale needed a challenge in his life.
Aurora turned back to Scarsdale and tilted her head in Lady Eloise’s direction. “You should not delay approaching her tonight.”
Scarsdale glanced across the room again, saw other men loitering around Lady Eloise and grunted, the only acknowledgement that he’d detected potential rivals in the room.
Aurora nodded. “You can tell me how charming you were to Lady Eloise and how she answered you later.”
He leveled her with a sour look but stalked off toward the distant beauty with more enthusiasm than expected.
If Scarsdale had begun the pursuit himself, and not had his mother manipulate him into asking for a dance with the young lady, Aurora might be more hopeful there could be a match in the making.
However, Scarsdale had been given no choice, so of course he would be stubborn and grudgingly go. She held her breath and watched their initial exchange, fingers crossed as the woman turned to him with a smile of welcome.
Aurora would find a way to turn her dream of earning her own way in the world once more into reality—but it might be done one reluctant lord at a time.
“Ah, there you are at last, Miss Hillcrest,” a familiar deep voice murmured. “Good evening.”
A shiver of unwanted tension raced over Aurora’s skin at the carelessly seductive timbre of the man addressing her. Lord Sullivan. She turned and looked up into the familiar face of her former client with a smile of welcome. But inside, she was filled with sadness.
Lord Sullivan had been one of the more frequent callers to the Hillcrest Academy, and perhaps the most difficult for her, personally. He could not easily set aside his grief for the wife he still loved and missed, and the regret his son had died in childbirth haunted him. He was the first and only client Aurora had ever considered a lost cause. She’d tried to avoid him ever since the academy had closed.
“My lord,” she answered, lowering her face as she dipped the earl a respectful curtsy. “It is good to see you again.”
“And you. I had no idea you were attending. The Castlereaghs are old friends of the family,” Sullivan murmured, bowing to her. “Castlereagh attended Clare and Pip’s funerals.”