The Best-Laid Plans - Sarah M. Eden Page 0,2

off her spectacles and set them on the table, eyeing Ellie and Lillian in turn. “We must build on the progress we made when young Mr. Jonquil last visited our neighborhood. We cannot let slip by us an opportunity for a connection to that family.”

“I tried, Mama,” Lillian said. “He did not seem the least interested.”

“Your older sister squandered her opportunity with Mr. Lancaster, preferring her penniless nobody.”

The oldest Napper sister deeply loved the gentleman she had recently married, and he loved her. Beatrice was now the happiest any of them had ever seen her. But the family was meant to have been monetarily and socially benefited by the daughters’ marriages. Mother was still fuming over what she considered to be Beatrice’s betrayal.

“I fear you are correct about Mr. Jonquil not being persuadable toward a match with you,” Mother said.

Far from looking heartbroken or offended, Lillian nodded quite matter-of-factly. She had not, after all, participated in the pursuit out of an abundance of affection.

“Mr. Jonquil’s friend is Mr. Hughes, of the Sussex Hugheses. They are quite wealthy and very important.” Mother held Lillian’s gaze. “He would be an excellent choice.”

Poor Mr. Hughes.

“And, Ellie.” Mother turned her attention. “You must set your sights on Mr. Jonquil.”

Poor Mr. Jonquil.

Poor me.

“If we can secure both these matches, we will be in fine feather, indeed.” Mother pushed out a sigh, both worry and hope in her expression. “Your sister made a disastrous match. We cannot afford for either of you to do the same.”

Ellie dreamed of a life that “disastrous.”

Lillian, as always, showed no signs of hesitation. She and Mother were two peas in a pod. “How soon can we make Mr. Hughes’s acquaintance?”

“I am not certain,” Mother said. “We will first call on the Lancasters. That is the best initial step.”

Merciful heavens, this could be a long stay in Bath.

Mother narrowed her gaze on Ellie once more. “I hope you do not plan to protest as much as you did when we were last in Mr. Jonquil’s company. I know you object to the efforts needed to forge an advantageous match, but doing so is even more important than it once was.”

Mother was not likely to be patient on this matter. Displeasure from her parent was not a new experience for Ellie; neither was it a pleasant one.

“I will behave,” Ellie vowed.

She’d learned long ago that rebellion was pointless.

Chapter Two

“I have to get out of this house.” Newton tossed Charlie a look of exasperation.

“But that would mean missing your father’s next installment of ‘Newton’s Myriad Matrimonial Opportunities and the Ways in Which He Is Tossing Away His Future.’ Please don’t deprive me of that.” A laugh twinkled in Charlie’s eyes.

“Tuck the absurd grin away, Charlie. We’re slipping free of our shackles whether you care to or not.”

“I know the perfect place to escape to,” his friend said.

“Do you?”

Charlie nodded. “Let us call on Linus.”

Linus Lancaster, a former lieutenant in the royal navy, was something of an honorary older brother to Charlie. They’d visited the gentleman a few times since his arrival in Bath. Newton liked him and enjoyed being at his home. He and his wife were kind and wasted not a single breath lecturing Newton about his plans for the future.

“Brilliant,” Newton said.

The Lancasters were letting a house near enough the Hughes’s that they were able to walk there, and they did so. The day was fine, and the weather quite pleasant. Bath was bustling, as it generally was this time of year. It was, of course, nothing compared to London during the Season. Newton didn’t mind the busyness. In fact, he enjoyed the constant push and pull and challenge of life in Town. He looked forward to being a more constant part of it in his own purposeful way.

“Have you found yourself a new accomplice now that I’m no longer at Cambridge?” Newton asked.

“I have, indeed.” Charlie grinned. “The brother of two of my sisters-in-law, Fennel Kendrick. He finished at Eton and is coming to Cambridge at the start of term. He’s always up for a lark.”

“More so than I was at first?”

“Everyone is more up for a lark than you were,” Charlie said with a laugh. “Cured you of that, though, didn’t I?”

“Thoroughly.”

Charlie’s mischievousness had proven contagious over the years they’d known each other, and the two of them had landed in any number of scrapes. They’d not been in any significant trouble, but they’d gained a reputation for piddling bouts of mischief.

“You could always abandon your dreams of