The Most Advantageous Match
By Misha
Disclaimer- Not mine.
Author’s Notes- My first Desire & Decorum fic. I was struggling a bit with the language and hope I did ok. My MC is Lady Georgina and she is a little more… pragmatic than my usual MCs. Amy March is one of my favorite literary characters, because I’ve always enjoyed her pragmatism and her understanding of what she wants from life and that she does not want to be poor (I’m aware Little Women is set 50 years after D&D and in a different continent, but the core idea remains the same) and I borrowed that for this MC. This is set after the diamond scene with the grandmother in Chapter 3.
Pairing- Minor Mr. Sinclaire/MC
Rating- PG
Summary- Georgina ponders her conversation with her grandmother and considers her marriage prospects.
Words- 859
I laid in bed, considering the conversation I’d had with my Lady Grandmother earlier that evening, about the upcoming Garden Party and what it meant for my future.
My Lady Grandmother and I were in complete agreement, about the fact that I needed an eligible husband. It had been my main thought since I’d learned who my true father was, the fact that this was the opportunity I had longed for.
I wanted a husband. I saw how Mama struggled on her own, the burden she felt, and I didn’t want that. I wanted someone to share that burden with. Except, I didn’t want the burdens at all.
I thought of Briar’s parents, of their money problems, and how hard Mrs. Daly worked. Mr. Daly was a nice man, but… I can’t say I’d ever longed for Mrs. Daly’s life. But until a few weeks ago, those had been my options: work myself to the bone as a spinster or as a married woman. It was the price of being born into poverty.
Except, I hadn’t been. Not really. Fate delivered me a miracle in the form of my natural father. While I was happy to know him, I was happier about the opportunities that were not available to me. As the daughter of an Earl, it would be easiest to get a husband than it would as a poor girl in a poor village.
I thought of Mr. Chambers, he sounded like who I should set my cap for. Lady Grandmother might be dismissive of it, but $2000 a year was more than I’d ever dreamed and she’d made him sound quite agreeable. He seemed like the safe choice.
And yet… I couldn’t help but think of what Lady Grandmother had suggested, how appealing she had made Duke Richards sound. A Duke. WIth a title, a fortune and a grand estate. The kind of life that had only been but a dream a few weeks ago.
Could I really become a Duchess? I had no particular skills to recommend me, save maybe my voice, and was a bastard, as Miss Sutton so elegantly put it. Yet, I kept thinking of my Lady Grandmother and how confident she was. Was being a recognized daughter of Edgewater really enough to make up for the circumstances of my birth? What could I offer a duke? Other than Edgewater itself, of course.
I couldn’t inherit, but my son could. Could that really be enough of a lure for a duke? It seemed ridiculous… But it must be possible, Lady Grandmother certainly thought it was, and she didn’t seem like the type to waste her time on the impossible and she certainly knew the workings of high society better than I did.
So maybe, just maybe, it was possible. Maybe I could go from a poor girl in a poor village to the Duchess of Karlington. But did I want that? I hadn’t even met the Duke, how could I already be considering wedding him? Was I that shallow, placing all importance on titles over character?
I didn’t want to think so. I wanted a husband yes, one who could provide me with the life I had only dreamed of, and a Duke could certainly do that, but… I also wanted to care for my husband. I didn’t need love, but I needed… Something. So it was too soon to set my sights on the Duke, at least until I met him.
My mind turned to Mr. Sinclaire instead. He was… Cold, standoffish, but… He was not unkind. The walk in the garden had been pleasant and there had been a moment…
Lady Grandmother seemed very pleased with that prospect too and eight thousand a year… It was an impossible dream. Plus, he was a neighbor, meaning I’d be able to stay close to the family I had just met. There was no title, but did I need a title to be happy?
But would Mr. Sinclaire want me? Or would the situation of my birth matter to him? Would the allure of a title for his heir sway him? Somehow I had a feeling it would not, that he was not a man who cared about such things, though rationally I knew it was too soon to make those judgments.
I would rather marry Mr. Sinclaire than a stranger, I thought. I bit my lip as I remembered the way it had felt when my hand brushed his. It had been very pleasant indeed.
Yes, I would quite happily marry Mr. Sinclaire, if it came to that. Yet… I could not write off the Duke, not yet. I had to at least meet him and see if I found him agreeable. Because if he was, then it would have to be him I set my cap for.
No matter how nice Mr. Sinclaire’s hand had felt against mine. But… If for some reason the Duke wasn’t too my taste, and as I settled to sleep I found myself hoping that he wouldn’t be, then… Then I would hope that Lady Grandmother could work her magic and pull off a match with Mr. Sinclaire…
- End
