Free The Spinster Bride by Jane Goodger

about her. She might not get back to London at all and by the time she was back, she’d be—oh, God—in her thirties. Dorothea stared at her plate, her food now untouched. “May I at least stay until after Ascot? I promised Mary I’d attend with her.”
    â€œUntil past June the fourteenth?” Her mother let out a heavy sigh. “Your aunt will be disappointed, but I suppose so.”
    Some of the sadness left Dorothea. She still had one more chance to see if Lord Smythe loved her even a little.

Chapter 5
    â€œT he opera? I thought you didn’t care for the opera.” Dorothea paused in the act of spooning an oversalted consommé into her frowning mouth.
    Marjorie had expected that reaction to her request that they attend the special performance at Covent Garden, and was ready with the only response she knew would sway her mother.
    â€œIt’s a special evening, Mother, with a light supper before the performance. You know that only draws the highest levels of the ton . And I hear Lord Wentworth will be there. I think you were right. I think he may be ready to remarry.”
    Dorothea gave her daughter a level look, almost as if she were trying to read the sincerity of her daughter’s request, and Marjorie used all her learned poise not to squirm. “And I suppose there will be others,” her mother said, finally, and then beamed a smile. “I’m glad to see a bit more enthusiasm, my dear. I had all but given up hope that you even cared to find a husband. But unfortunately, I cannot attend. Lady Benningford has invited me to a reading and as I have already accepted, I cannot change my plans.”
    â€œOh,” Marjorie said, feeling a deep stab of disappointment. She’d been so looking forward to discussing Mr. Norris’s list with him and matching it up with the women on her list.
    â€œSo disappointed,” her mother said, looking at her thoughtfully. “Can it be that you actually have developed a tendre for Lord Wentworth?”
    Marjorie gave her mother a wan smile. “It’s not just that, Mother. I suppose I was looking forward to attending an amusement that Miss Crawford will not be attending. I do so want to wear blue. It suits me best.”
    Her mother let out a laugh. “That it does, my dear. All right, then, let me see if your aunt can attend with you.”
    â€œAunt Gertrude?” she asked hopefully. Gertrude was a lovely old lady and the worst possible chaperone. Once her aunt found old friends to gossip with, Marjorie could disappear for hours at a time without being questioned.
    â€œOf course, Aunt Gertrude. Do you think I would trust you with any of your father’s sisters? Doddering old maids, the lot of them.”
    Marjorie rushed to her mother’s side and gave her a kiss on the cheek. “Thank you, Mother, I adore Aunt Gertrude. We shall have a wonderful time. And I know she loves the opera—even if I do not. But this is not an opera, it’s a solo performance by Adelina Patti.”
    â€œYes, I know. She is exquisite. But I saw her just last year. I’m not too heartbroken. And you have never heard her sing, have you?”
    â€œNo, and I am looking forward to it.”
    â€œI cannot wait to hear about your evening. I do hope you will sit next to someone worth sitting next to during dinner.”
    Â 
    â€œMy mother would kill me if she saw me right now,” Marjorie said with a laugh. She sat between two ineligible men—Charles Norris and Lord Ruthersford, who seemed not to have warmed a single degree since his engagement to Lavinia Crawford. The former smiled down at his plate, the latter ignored her completely. She almost felt sorry for Miss Crawford now that she was no longer on the marriage mart and would have to spend the rest of her life with Ruthersford.
    â€œYou seem to have a streak of deviltry in you, my lady.”
    â€œOh, much more than a streak, I can assure