Kittie Montague steadied herself after stumbling forward. She wished her mother would let her wear better shoes for walking, but her mother claimed that a lady of her station was required to look fashionable at all times.
“Are you all right, Kittie?” Jane asked, placing a hand on her shoulder to ensure that she was upright.
“Fine, fine,” she grumbled, thankful that they were on the grounds of her estate and not in public when she had tripped.
“Anyway, I was saying about Lord Glenn. I think he will ask me for a dance at Lady Selwyn’s ball tomorrow evening. I am sure of it,” Jane said with excitement.
“I do hope so. I know how much it would mean to you if he asked you for a dance. Tell me again, does he really own four properties?” Kittie asked, although she cared very little about gossip like that. However, it mattered to Jane and that was important.
As Jane went on about each piece of land, Kittie tucked a stray curl of her nearly black hair from her face. They were nearing a small patch of trees and she was happy to get away from prying eyes. It was nice not having a chaperone when she was with her cousin, but Kittie was still eager to be away from the prying eyes of the estate.
“So, I think we would make an ideal match,” Jane concluded, having told all the reasons why she ought to marry Lord Glenn.
Kittie turned to her, knowing she had no choice but to share the thoughts Jane wouldn’t want to hear.
“I understand there would be a great many benefits to marrying Lord Glenn, but haven’t you heard that he is also rather…well, he has a reputation for flirtation. Is that truly the sort of man you wish to spend your life with? I can’t imagine that you would really want to be with someone who might not be as serious about you as you are about him in return,” Kittie said.
“All men flirt now and then, Kittie. They are simply trying to discover which young ladies are suited for them and which are not. I do believe that Lord Glenn and I are an absolute match and I trust that, in time, you will see it as well. Did you know that he and his family also intend to build a small orphanage for some of the street children? So, you see, he is a good man,” Jane declared.
Kittie was not convinced. She had heard that his family enjoyed social endeavours, but that did not mean he would make for a good husband. Kittie was far more concerned about Jane being happy in her future marriage than simply enjoying the comforts of life as her husband offered.
“Honestly, you should listen to me. Lord Glenn is exactly the sort of man I ought to be marrying. If you could see how wonderful he truly is, you would know that I would be an extremely fortunate woman if I were to marry him,” Jane continued.
Kittie sighed and let Jane have this hope. She was quite sure that this would not end well, but Jane wouldn’t hear her out and there was no reason to argue the matter if it was going to simply end in debate as opposed to reasonable conversation.
As they walked from one end of the row of perfectly matched trees and came off the path along the road, they saw a coach drawing near to the estate.
“Who is that? Have you other guests coming by today?” Jane asked.
“It is Henry’s new tutor,” she replied.
“New tutor? I was unaware he needed someone for that,” Jane said.
“Richard insisted upon it. He said that Mother and Father would have wanted it and that if he is to raise us, he wants to raise us well,” Kittie said.
“He has done a very nice job thus far. Surely he doesn’t think he is failing you,” Jane reasoned.
“Honestly, I think he’s unhappy with how he has looked after us. Henry is not as motivated as Richard believes he ought to be, and I know he wishes that I had been married off already. He is always going on about how you are actually motivated to find a husband and he wishes that I would be the same,” Kittie said.
“Oh? You mean he wishes that you would learn from me? I daresay that I agree. You ought to try and find a husband so that we may both enjoy marriage,” Jane said.
Kittie laughed. It wasn’t so much that she didn’t want to find a husband, but she had a great many other things in life she wanted to do. She wished that Jane and Richard would be more understanding of that. Of course, people frequently confused her with Jane since they looked so much alike, but whenever a man learned that he was speaking with Kittie instead of Jane, he would usually end the conversation rather promptly.
It seemed as though her reputation had gotten out for being less than determined to find a husband.
“Anyway, this man is supposed to be an excellent tutor. Richard said that he has a reputation for being extremely intelligent despite his young age,” she said.
“How young is he?” Jane asked with curiosity.
Kittie shrugged.
“I am not sure, exactly, but I imagine he is scarcely older than we are,” she said.
They walked back towards the house and continued talking about Lord Glenn and the upcoming dances. By the time they reached the door, Kittie had grown weary of listening to Jane’s eagerness regarding gentlemen and was hoping that she would, instead, be willing to discuss other matters such as the book Kittie was reading.
Then again, Jane was rarely interested in things like reading, so it was highly unlikely and there was no reason to even have hope for that.
Once they went inside, they walked down the hall towards the stairs. When they passed by the parlour, Kittie looked inside and remembered they needed to gather their embroidery. Henry was supposed to be meeting his tutor in there and she knew she would need to be quick.
“The stitching is in here,” she said.
“Shall I come or go up?” Jane asked.
“Go on ahead. Karina will bring the tea in a moment and I shall be right up,” she said.
Jane went and Kittie stepped inside the parlour to see the back of a man’s head seated across from Richard and Henry. She sensed that Jane had come back and thought her cousin might come in with her, but when she glanced back, she saw that Jane was simply looking inside with curiosity at the man seated in there.
“Oh, forgive me,” Kittie said, apologising for having intruded. She hadn’t realised they were already there. It was embarrassing, walking in while they were busy, but they had been quiet in that moment.
“Ah, Katherine, there you are,” Richard said. “Get your things and be quick about it. Henry needs the room for his studies. Perhaps the study would actually be a better spot for it in general, but I must gather some of my own things from there today. Anyway, be quick about it.”
“Yes, of course. I am sorry for interrupting,” she said, keeping her head down and entering the room further to get what she needed.
But before Kittie could gather the items, the tutor stood and turned to bow to her. When Kittie saw his face, her breath caught for a moment.
Clean shaven, youthful, and with a thick mop of dark brown hair, he really was as young as everyone had said. But it was the blue eyes rimmed with thick lashes and the bright, lovely smile that caught her attention most. His nose was straight and masculine, his expression one of joy and contentment.
When he stood straight, their eyes met for a moment and Kittie was certain she had never seen a man so handsome in all her life. She knew that he was there for Henry, but she had never expected that she would meet a man so shockingly striking and it took every ounce of willpower to tear her eyes away from him and curtsey.
Kittie was certain that everything in her life was about to change.