Page 20 of A Match for Princess Pompous
“And while you are at it,” Mrs. Northrop continued, “mention, casually, what a difficult Season Odette has had but that she seems to finally be finding her footing. Remind your mother that she once liked her young neighbor, but do so subtly.”
Jack nodded. “What do we do about Miss Summerfield? My parents and hers are set upon a match between us.”
“You leave that to me.”
“A matchmakerunderminingmatches?” Terrance clicked his tongue. “That cannot be good for your reputation.”
“My reputation, Mr. Lexington, is that of a matchmaker who makes good matches. Quality is far more important than quantity.”
For the first time in ages, Jack felt some hope over his and Odette’s situation. “You really are going to help us?”
“I am going to help you help yourselves.” With that declaration, she left the room. No farewell. No curtsy.
Jack wasn’t sure if he liked Mrs. Northrop or was simply terrified of her. He suspected she was the sort of person one underestimated at his own peril.
“If she can’t sort out the mess you’ve made, I don’t think anyone can,” Terrance said.
“Lud, I hope so.”
“For your sake, as well as Miss Armistead’s, I hope so as well.”
“Which brings me to a grievance.” He turned in his seat enough to look at Terrance. “You knew, and you never said anything.”
Terrance was not the least quelled by the accusation. “You never said anything to me, but you should have. I wouldn’t have jabbered. I might have even helped.”
Jack dropped his head into his upturned hands. “We’ve made such a mess of this.”
“It’ll get sorted now, you’ll see.”
But what if it didn’t? What if Mrs. Northrop, despite her confident bearing and unwavering declarations, couldn’t salvage the situation?
He might lose Odette. He couldn’t bear the thought.
***
Young people could be endlessly frustrating. Jack and Odette meant well, but they had made this far harder on themselves than it needed to be. His parents had set their sights on a match, but they had made no announcements to the world. Mrs. Hewitt and Lady Barrington still spoke regularly and were clearly friends. Mrs. Hewitt spoke of Odette in fond and caring terms, despite the fiasco of the past Season.
Bringing his parents around to the idea of a match between their son, whom they seemed to love despite not understanding, and the daughter of their friends and neighbors would not be difficult.
Miss Summerfield had shown no particular fondness for Jack, and her parents seemed to be in no great hurry to see her settled.
Odette had suffered the past months needlessly.
Why was that so often the case? A couple took the longest, most difficult route to love they possibly could, not seeing the easier path directly in front of them. Heavens, she’d redirected a lot of people over the years. And, in doing so, she’d saved them from disaster.
Chapter Eight
Perhaps ices with Miss Summerfield had been too bold a first step to take toward forming their required friendship. Odette had panicked when she’d come face-to-face with the young lady. She’d proposed a very public, very impersonal activity. She hadn’t reckoned with the necessity of driving in the same carriage, sitting at a small table, and conversing with her secret rival while half of London looked on.
Mrs. Northrop wasn’t particularly helpful. She had come along but sat in silence all the way to Gunter’s. Odette had done her best to keep up a conversation. Miss Summerfield, however, was far quieter than she’d been during their drive in Hyde Park. Mrs. Northrop could be a little intimidating.
As they sat in Gunter’s, the silence between the three of them became increasingly uncomfortable.
“It is a shame you have not been able to spend more time at Hazelfield,” Odette said, naming the estate the Summerfieldshad purchased in the neighborhood. “Ours is a lovely little corner of the world.”
“It does seem to be,” Miss Summerfield said. “My parents prefer to divide their time between multiple places. I never seem to be granted time enough to come to know any one home or group of families.”
Odette could not truly relate. “Coming to London this Season is only the third time I have ever left the immediate vicinity of the home where I grew up.”
