Page 19 of The Botanist’s Improper Bride

“Thank you for the reminder, Bessie. Would you mind coming back in twenty minutes to help me dress?”

“As you say, miss.”

Seraphina made short work of the meal, grateful that her father didn’t insist on eating together every night because it gave her a certain level of privacy. Sometimes, she resented it, because she would have liked to spend more time with him, or at least to believe that he cared about her enough to sit down together once a day, but it did have benefits.

Once the ink was dry on her list, she folded it and tucked it into a drawer where no one other than Seraphina herself would see it. Then she mused over which gentleman might be at the ball tonight. Both Viscount Blackwell and his brother were married, so neither of them were viable husband candidates.

To her knowledge, Viscount Blackwell didn’t have many friends, though that didn’t mean there wouldn’t be anyone at the event. To the contrary, it was sure to be a crush. Mr. Nicholas Blackwell was a sociable sort, and his friends were generally less concerned about the social hierarchy and more focused on who had the best horses.

One of them might be worth considering.

Viscountess Blackwell’s brother, the Earl of Longley, would be in attendance, but he was also married, as was his closest friend, the Duke of Ashford. Hopefully some of the other invitees would be available and meet her criteria.

And hopefully, Mr. Emerson wouldn’t be there.

Bessie returned, and Seraphina washed her face, patted it dry, and allowed herself to be dressed in a relatively plain white gown. She’d chosen this dress even though white wasn’t her best color because it symbolized innocence and purity and would hopefully render others less likely to hold her broken engagement against her.

If not for Mr. Emerson’s offer, she might have opted for a brighter shade and a more daring cut, intending to emphasize the damage to her reputation and prevent anyone from offering for her, but since she already had one terrible betrothal on the table, she needed every advantage she could get to find a better one.

She sat while Bessie pinned and curled her hair, then wound a string of white pearls around her neck. She donned white silk gloves that came up to her elbows and smiled. Absolutely no one would be able to imply she didn’t look proper.

Once she was certain she appeared the part of demure society miss, she made her way downstairs. Her father wasn’t waiting, and she didn’t bother going to find him. If he couldn’t bring himself to wish her luck, then she wasn’t going to force her presence upon him.

“Miss Carruthers’s carriage just arrived outside,” the butler, Smithers, told her, his upper lip curled in disapproval that had nothing to do with her. Smithers thought her father ought to be taking a more active role in her life and had said as much, although never within his hearing. “Mark will escort you out.”

“Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.” His grimace deepened. “Also, I’m to tell you that you have twenty-four days remaining.”

“Just the reminder I needed.”

Did her father really think she didn’t know exactly how much time she had left?

It was her future on the line, after all.

Mark opened the front entrance, held the door for her to pass through, and then accompanied her to Letitia’s family carriage, a sleek black affair with the logo of her father’s company on the door. Seraphina thanked him and climbed inside, relieved when the door shut and she was alone with her friend.

Letitia looked her up and down, then laughed. “I don’t believe I’ve ever seen you look quite so…”

“Prudish?” Seraphina suggested.

“Sweet,” Letitia decided. “Even when you were first out, you preferred pale pink to white.”

“I wore white when I debuted.”

“As is only proper,” Letitia teased her. “I can’t believe no one notices how easily you play them.”

“It’s not as if I have nefarious plans. I just know that I need to behave a certain way so they don’t dig into my personal business. If I were honest about how much I enjoy science, it would be far less likely that I could make medicine to save people without someone noticing. No one expects a silly girl who likes fashion to know how to isolate a gas or crystallize an active chemical compound from a solvent.”

Letitia tilted her head in acknowledgment. “Touché.”

The carriage rumbled to a halt, and they waited for the door to be opened, then stepped out, adjusted their dresses, and made their way into the impressive home.

Lord and Lady Blackwell and Mr. Blackwell and his wife, Lady Sophie, were lined up in the entrance hall to greet guests.

Lady Blackwell smiled warmly. “Good evening. I’m so glad you could both be here. I hope you’ll enjoy your night.”

“I’m sure we will,” Letitia replied. “Thank you for inviting us.”