Husband Wanted (HC #1)

5: The Ladies in the Parlour

Beth detoured to her bedroom on her way to the parlour, her maid assisting her with putting on a delicate day dress. This time, she focussed on the yellow fabric as she descended the stairs, and made it all the way without having to see the front door. Aunt Jemima was their late father's sister-in-law and a widow herself. As Beth entered the parlour, her aunt smiled a greeting and took her by both hands.

"Ah, darling Beth!" She kissed her on the cheek. "You look quite lovely today."

Their aunt was quite lovely herself, with blonde curls gathered at the back of her neck and keen blue eyes that assessed Elizabeth from hair to slipper. Her curves harboured a rather enormous heart that had unconditionally loved and supported each of her nieces and nephews since their parents' passing.

"Thank you, Aunt." Whilst Beth did not doubt the sincerity of the compliment, the woman was known to view all the people she loved through rose-coloured glasses. Before she could return the sentiment, thin arms grasped her from her left and wrapped her in a tight embrace. She giggled and tried her best to return the hug.

"Victoria let her breathe." The gentle admonishment came from further away and Beth looked over the blonde curls of one cousin to see the other standing demurely just behind their mother. Rosemary was barely twenty, which made Beth's heart ache all the more to see her in mourning colours. Her dress was a dark satin that fell in heavy pleats and exaggerated her thin frame and pale skin until she looked ill. Her hair was a darker shade than her mother's and pulled back dramatically from her face, but even so, she was beautiful.

Beth felt envy pluck at her chest and she shook it aside; no amount of loveliness was worth the pain her gentle cousin had endured.

The woman embracing her released her with a huff, not surrendering entirely as she caught Beth's hands in hers. "Mama is right, Beth – you look very well!"

Victoria and Rosemary had always been very different, but the contrast had never been quite this clear. The younger girl was decked in pastel, with her hair coiled intricately atop her head and her face stretched in a bright smile. She would never be quite as naturally pretty as Rosemary, but right now she outshone her.

"Come sit with me, cousin, and tell me everything I have missed since last I saw you."

Victoria's eagerness was infectious and Beth let herself be pulled to the settee with a laugh. "It has only been a week!"

"Oh!" Her cousin put one hand to her mouth with a giggle as she sat down heavily. "Oh, dear! It does seem so much longer than that. Time does pass you by when you're planning your wedding! Which reminds me, I have been in such tedious negotiations with the florist this week. You will not believe..."

Beth listened with one ear as Victoria regaled her with stories about the guest-list and the vicar and the menu and seemingly every wedding-related conversation she'd had in the past sevenday. She couldn't help her gaze from darting to Rosemary on more than one occasion and was mightily impressed to see only bland amusement reflected on her elder cousin's face. She was sure she would not be so composed in her place.

Rosemary had found her match when she was very young and was married at eighteen. Less than two years later, she was a widow watching her younger sister embrace everything she had lost. Beth was sure Victoria did not discuss her forthcoming wedding so openly to be vindictive, she was just too naïve and too excited to understand the hurt she might be inflicting on her grieving sister. If Beth were in her place, she thought she'd also be enraptured at being the centre of attention, finally out from under Rose's gorgeous shadow.

That they were both younger than her also smarted a bit, but Elizabeth smiled at whatever story Victoria was telling and tried to be only happy for her.