"Lord Melvin has been friends with my brother for some years, and Mama and I had no fixed engagements, so thought to join the duke on visiting his friends after the season." Victoria pinned a smile to her lips. "I did not think you would be interested in my social calendar."
"My father knows of everyone's whereabouts or at least those he chooses to know. My father, you see, has designs on me marrying a lord or a duke. I am yet to make up my mind which one I want."
Victoria narrowed her eyes, a prickly sensation rising along her skin. "You are yet to have your season. Would you choose before you attended London?"
Lady Sophie lifted one delicate shoulder into a shrug. "My father is determined to see me married, and so I shall. If I marry, I do not wish to ever be in reduced circumstances, and so I think I have two options to satisfy both mine and my father's wishes."
"And what is that?" Victoria could not help but ask, even though she knew she would not like the answer.
"Why, I shall choose between Lord Melvin and your brother the duke. Two of the wealthiest men in England. While the duke has been more forthcoming in his interest, Lord Melvin is certainly curious, do you not think? And handsome, which a husband should be if one is so lucky."
Victoria swallowed the ball of fire that lodged in her throat. "Do you care for Lord Melvin?" Not that Victoria should ask such a personal question, but Albert deserved a lady who loved him, adored him in every way. She would never allow Albert to marry a woman who did not care for him, only his money, even if she did not want marriage herself.
"Does not matter if I do not. He would be marrying me for my dowry and to have his children. Love is not a requirement."
"And your thoughts on my brother?"
A small smile played about Lady Sophie's mouth, and Victoria decided she did not like her. The woman was calculating, and next Season, whoever ended up married to the chit would need all the luck in the world to make such a marriage work. She would not be an easy woman to be hitched to.
"I'll be a duchess. There is nothing more to say than that."
Victoria cleared her throat, forcing the words she had to speak. "You do understand that I am the duke's sister and that Lord Melvin is a family friend. After what you have said, I wonder if you're suitable for either man at all."
"Really?" Lady Sophie laughed. Victoria stared at her, nonplussed and not quite believing the woman found her words so amusing.
"Why are you laughing?"
Lady Sophie waved her hand before her face, the amused farce carrying on too long. "You are amusing, my lady, and I find it surprising you would care that I would see marriage as a binding agreement. You are the one who has sworn off marriage, after living through a disastrous one. I would have thought you would agree with me and urge me to guard my heart against any spouses who have little respect for their wives. Marriage is a contract and without love, one cannot be hurt. If I was unfortunate enough to marry a man such as your late husband, well, if I did not love him, I would not care if he were shot on foreign shores.”
Victoria glanced about the room, discombobulated by Lady Sophie’s words. Was she right? Is that how society saw her now? Like a woman sworn off men, of marriage as if it were some dirty institution to be pitied and ridiculed for those who chose that path?
To her shame, there was truth to Lady Sophie’s words. Marriage was not something she longed to endure a second time. Nor the children that followed the wedding day. But then, when she looked across a ballroom such as the one where she now stood, watching Lord Melvin, the small lines at the corner of his eyes creasing when he smiled and laughed, she could not imagine not seeing his face every day. Of not having a future with him.
"I do not see you as a foe, Lady Sophie. I merely want more for my brother and Lord Melvin than a cold wife unable to love. While I may not be searching for a husband, that does not mean that I do not believe that love is real and can be found between people. My siblings are proof that the emotion can be found and nurtured."
"But you still do not want it."
Not with men such as her late husband had been, she did not. But with men such as Lord Melvin, well, that was a vexing issue she had been debating for weeks. Not that he'd asked her to marry him, even though he had hinted a time or two that he would be willing to travel with her. Give her freedom.
She narrowed her eyes. But would he really? Men were very agreeable during the engagement, and then once the marriage had taken place, they were known to change their character and minds. Paul’s true character—a cheating snake—had not taken long to slither out of its hole and strike at anything in a skirt.
Victoria did not think Albert was such a man, but then she had been wrong before. Her life was all such a mess, choices coming at her, decisions she wasn't ready to make. She needed time to think. That was all.
"I wish you well next season, Lady Sophie."
Victoria bid her good evening and went to find her mother, or better yet, a whiskey decanter. She needed a little toddy before continuing this ball. A few minutes later she found herself headed for the library and, thankfully, welcome peace from the bustling room. Once she had steadied her racing
