Page 12 of A Match for Princess Pompous
Odette relied upon that notoriety. Utilizing the pompous tone she had so perfected, she entered the fray. “Suppose ‘their daughter’ could not possibly care less about ‘addressing her notoriety’?”
Without the slightest hesitation, Mrs. Northrop said, “Then ‘their daughter’ is rather foolish, something I do not believe for a moment.”
“You think you can restore Society’s good opinion of her?” Father pressed.
“I am certain of it.” Mrs. Northrop shooed them away. “The two of you leave her social calendar in my keeping. All will be put to rights.”
Quick as that, Odette’s parents abandoned her to the keeping of Mrs. Northrop and her insufferable nosiness.
“Come along, then,” Mrs. Northrop said, motioning to the now-open front door. It seemed she had taken control of the household as well as Odette’s future.
Had she been less determined to attend that evening’s ball, she might have put up more of a fight. But the time she had been promised with Jack was worth being browbeaten for the moment.
They climbed into the carriage. Mrs. Northrop tapped on the ceiling, and they began immediately moving forward.
“Your parents seem particularly intrigued by the possibility of Mr. Lexington choosing to court you,” Mrs. Northrop said.
“He has given me no indication that he intends to do so.” That was not entirely true. Mr. Lexington always asked her to stand up with him at balls and spoke to her at musicales. He had chosen her to join him on a drive about Hyde Park. She didn’t think he was trulycourtingher, but he was showing her attention.
“Young gentlemen seldom make sorting out their intentions as easy as that.”
Odette allowed the tiniest of smiles. “I don’t think ladies are entirely innocent on that score, either.”
Mrs. Northrop shook her head. “Love is a bit of a mess at times, isn’t it?”
“Oh, were we speaking of love? I thought the topic was courtship.” She did not entirely keep the cynicism from her voice.
“Do you not think the two are one and the same?” her traveling companion asked.
“In my experience, the two are not generally permitted to intertwine,” Odette said.
“That is unfortunately often the case, and it ought not be.”
Odette had not expected this lady, a matchmaker to theton, to harbor any preference, however small, for matches based in tenderness and regard. “Do the matches you engineer take affection into consideration?”
“The matches Ifacilitateare governed by three unbreakable rules.” She left the comment there, not elaborating or seeming the least eager to explain.
“What are the three rules?”
Mrs. Northrop’s lips turned up ever so slightly. A bit of mischief entered her gaze. “Do you know this is the most interested you have been in having a conversation with me sincemy arrival? I am sorely tempted to offer only a partial answer, if only to force you to speak with me again.”
Despite her determination to be a touch cold with Mrs. Northrop, especially considering she had come to undo all that had been managed that Season, Odette could not entirely hold back an answering smile of her own. “I am to receive only one rule at a time?”
“Yes.” Mrs. Northrop nodded regally. “One at a time, beginning with the first: neither the gentleman nor the lady can be a truly horrid person.”
The rule was an odd one and certainly unexpected. “Has this rule come into play often?”
“More often than it should.”
Odette was decidedly intrigued. “What do you do if the person for whom you are charged with securing a match proves to be horrid?”
“I leave,” she said baldly.
Odette picked at a stray thread on one of her gloves. “You have not left Barrington House yet.”
“No, I have not.” There was a gentleness to her response that pulled Odette’s gaze to her once more. “I know what people say of you, Odette. In the short time I’ve been here, I’ve seen why you are viewed the way you are.”
She tried to assume her haughty expression. “‘Horrid’ is not the same as ‘pompous,’ though.”
