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And there was one final thing required in a matri to have children She would have to be clear upon her desire to have children If she was going to such lengths as to re she desired most out of the union

The butler ushered the room

"Her ladyship will be with you shortly," he intoned as he bowed his way out of the room

"Must be a very fine lady indeed," Aunt Eleanor ant appoint situated near the large fireplace "Very lifelike," shethe statue uneasily as she backed up and seated herself on a striped chintz sofa

Meredith lowered herself into a wingback chair and nodded "Yes I wonder how Lord Brookshire knows Lady Derring They ree to sponsor inative mind immediately leapt to all h her Lady Derring was no doubt the kind of experienced, mature woman Nick preferred

No doubt a fashionable blond beauty, popular, sophisticated, and worldly

The sound of the door opening captured her attention A bespectacled, dark-haired girl stood in the doorway, hands on her hps in an unladylike pose

"Are you Lady Brookshire?"

Certainly not a fashionable blond beauty, Meredith noted Could this be Lady Derring? She hardly looked out of the schoolroom Perhaps a relation?

"Yes"

"You are prettier than he let on"

She flushed, instantly certain who he was, and mortified to know that he had discussed her looks, or more specifically her lack of looks, in the co, assured strides "His dislike of you must blind him"

"Lord Brookshire said he disliked my niece?" Aunt Eleanor demanded in affronted tones "How rude"

"Aunt," Meredith warned

"Well, it is," Aunt Eleanor whispered in loud tones, as if the girl in front of them could not hear her every word "I don’t care what you’ve done, it is unspeakably rude for him to slander you before others I shall take this up with hi"

"I don’t think ill find ourselves in his company anytime soon," Meredith reminded His aversion to the ton had been declared froe of his ascent into the echelons of Society bythe rounds this Season It was for the best

At least for her She could not bear to see the cold contempt in his eyes at every soiree and ball she attended

"Oh, he did not directly say he disliked Lady Brookshire, but it was easy to infer as much I suspected there was no fondness"

"Rest assured, it isindifference

"My name is Portia And yes," she added, as if they had inquired, "hly unnatural and unfe to Grand But then she had not liked my mother very much, called her an anomaly of womanhood… and all because she was a scholar" Lady Portia paused for breath "I suspect we shall grow to be quite the bosoether, at least if Grandmother has her way And she always does" Portia finished with a dra a little dizzy fro

"Grander Duchess of Derring"

"A duchess?" Aunt Eleanor gasped before looking gleefully to Meredith "What a coup to be presented by a duchess"

"Yes, I wonder how Lord Brookshire finagled such a feat," Meredith murmured Apparently they could not have been pararandmotherly types, and she did not think his tastes ran toward those that experienced and et a duchess to sponsor a nobody like her?

"Black the direction of Meredith’s thoughts

"What?" both Meredith and Aunt Eleanor enjoined, their voices a touch too loud

Portia blinked and seemed to reconsider her choice of words "Well, not exactly blackmail I suppose it was more like an equitable trade"

"What kind of trade?" Meredith pressed

"Oh, Lord Brookshire was more than fair He offered to returnrandan uncertainly, "I suppose that isof Lord Brookshire"

"It’s perfectly dreadful" Meredith’s eyes flared ith outrage "It is blackrandmother She has no choice but to sponsor me How she must dread the chore"

"She’s not thrilled about it, but it is really such a s our livelihood in return And there is nothing poor about Grandmother She is a perfect harridan

Don’t pity her The wohter, on the auction block against er!"

"What is this auction block you keep referring to?" Aunt Eleanor asked, perplexed

"Soe irl settled her fists onto her narrow hps in adebutantes don’t do is have their teeth inspected by prospective grooms"

Meredith felt her mouth curve into a smile Possibly the first in many weeks "Perhaps you should look at it differently," she suggested