She'd wanted to keep the family together, she had said. Was that so much to ask?
But she was failing. There was no money for music lessons or tutors, or any of the things Elizabeth had taken for granted when she'd been small. The Lord only knew how she was going to manage to send Lucas to Eton.
And he had to go. Every Hotchkiss male for four hundred years had attended Eton. They hadn't all managed to graduate, but they'd all gone.
She was going to have to marry. And her husband was going to have to have a lot of money. It was as simple as that.
“Abraham begat Isaac, and Isaac begat Jacob, and Jacob begat Judas…"
Elizabeth quietly cleared her throat and looked up with hopeful eyes. Was Lady Danbury asleep yet? She leaned forward and studied the older lady's face. Hard to tell.
"… and Judas begat Phares and Zara of Thamar, and Phares begat Esrom…"
The old lady's eyes had definitely been closed for some time now, but still, one couldn't be too careful.
"… and Esrom begat Aram, and…"
Was that a snore? Elizabeth's voice dropped to a whisper.
"… and Aram begat Aminadab, and Aminadab begat Naasson, and…"
Elizabeth closed the Bible and began to tiptoe backward out of the drawing room. Normally she didn't mind reading to Lady Danbury; it was actually one of the better parts of her position as companion to the dowager countess. But today she really needed to get back home. She had felt so dreadful leaving while Jane was still in such a tizzy about the prospect of Squire Nevins entering their little family. Elizabeth had assured her she wouldn't marry him if he were the last man on earth, but Jane hadn't been very confident that anyone else would ask, and-
THUMP!
Elizabeth nearly jumped out of her skin. No one knew how to produce more noise with a cane and a floor than Lady Danbury.
"I am not asleep!" Lady D's voice boomed.
Elizabeth turned around and smiled weakly. "So sorry."
Lady Danbury chuckled. "You're not in the least bit sorry. Get back over here."
Elizabeth suppressed a groan and returned to her straight-backed chair. She liked Lady Danbury. She truly did. In fact she longed for the day when she could use age as an excuse and carry on with Lady D's signature brand of outspokenness.
It was just that she really needed to get home, and-
"You're a tricky one, you are," Lady Danbury said.
"I beg your pardon?"
"All those 'begats.' Hand-chosen to put me to sleep."
Elizabeth felt her cheeks grow warm with a guilty blush and tried to phrase her words as a question. "I don't know what you mean?"
"You skipped ahead. We should still be on Moses and the great flood, not that begat part."
"I don't think that was Moses with the great flood, Lady Danbury."
"Nonsense. Of course it was."
Elizabeth decided that Noah would understand her desire to avoid a protracted discussion of biblical references with Lady Danbury and shut her mouth.
"At any rate, it matters not who got caught in the flood. The fact of the matter is that you skipped ahead just to put me to sleep."
"I…ah…"
"Oh, just admit it, girl." Lady Danbury's lips spread into a knowing smile. “I admire you for it, actually. Same thing I would have done at your age."
Elizabeth rolled her eyes. If this wasn't a case of "damned if you do and damned if you don't," she didn't know what was. So she just sighed, picked up the Bible, and said, "What portion would you like me to read?"
"None of it. Bloody boring, it is. Haven't we anything more exciting in the library?''
"I'm sure we must. I could check, if you like."
“Yes, do that. But before you go, could you hand me that ledger? Yes, that one on the desk."
Elizabeth rose, walked over to the desk, and picked up the leather-bound ledger. "Here you are," she said, handing it to Lady Danbury.
The countess flipped the ledger open with military precision before looking back up at Elizabeth. “Thank you, my girl. I've a new estate manager arriving today and I want to get all these numbers memorized so I can be sure he isn't robbing me blind in a month's time."
"Lady Danbury," Elizabeth said with the utmost sincerity, "even the devil wouldn't dare to rob you blind."
Lady D thumped her cane by way of applause and laughed. "Well said, my girl. So nice to see a young one with a brain in the head. My own children- Well, bah, I'm not going to get into that now except to tell you that my son once got his head caught between the bars of the fence 'round Windsor Castle."
Elizabeth clapped her hand over her mouth in an effort to stifle a laugh.
"Oh, go ahead and giggle," Lady Danbury sighed. "I've found that the only way to avoid parental frustration is to view him as a source of amusement."
"Well," Elizabeth said carefully, "that does seem a wise course of action…"
"You'd make a fine diplomat, Lizzie Hotchkiss," Lady Danbury chortled. "Where's my baby?"
Elizabeth didn't even bat an eyelash. Lady D's abrupt changes of subject were legendary. "Your cat," she emphasized, "has been sleeping on the ottoman for the last hour," she said, pointing across the room.
Malcolm lifted his furry head, tried to focus his slightly crossed blue eyes, decided it wasn't worth the effort, and settled back down.
"Malcolm," Lady Danbury cooed, "come to Mama."
Malcolm ignored her.
"I have a treat for you."
The cat yawned, recognized Lady D as his primary source of food, and hopped down.
"Lady Danbury," Elizabeth scolded, "you know that cat is too fat."
"Nonsense."
Elizabeth shook her head. Malcolm weighed at least a stone, although a good portion of that was fur. She spent the better part of every evening after she returned home defurring her clothing.
Which was really quite remarkable, since the snobby beast hadn't deigned to let her hold him in five years.
"Good kitty," Lady D said, holding out her arms.
"Stupid cat," Elizabeth muttered as the ecru-colored feline stopped, stared at her, then went on his way.
"You're such a sweet thing." Lady D rubbed her hand against his furry belly. "Such a sweet thing."
The cat stretched out on Lady Danbury's lap, laying on his back with his paws hanging over his head.
"That isn't a cat," Elizabeth said. "It's a poor excuse for a rug."
Lady D raised a brow. "I know you don't mean that, Lizzie Hotchkiss."
"Yes, I do."
"Nonsense. You love Malcolm."
"Like I love Attila the Hun."
"Well, Malcolm loves you."
The cat lifted his head, and Elizabeth would swear he stuck his tongue out at her.
Elizabeth stood, letting out an indignant squeak. “That cat is a menace. I'm going to the library."
"Good idea. Go find me a new book."
Elizabeth headed for the door.
"And nothing with 'begat'!"
Elizabeth laughed in spite of herself and headed across the hall to the library. The clicking sound of her footsteps disappeared as she stepped onto the carpet, and she sighed. Good heavens, there were a lot of books here. Where on earth to start?
She selected a few novels, then pulled down a collection of Shakespeare's comedies. A slim volume of romantic poetry joined the pile, and then, just as she was about to cross the hall back to Lady D's drawing room, another book caught her eye.
It was very small, and bound in quite the brightest red leather Elizabeth had ever seen. But what was most odd about the book was that it was sitting sideways on a shelf in a library that gave new meaning to the word "order." Dust wouldn't dare settle on these shelves, and certainly no book would ever lie sideways.
Elizabeth set down her pile and picked up the little red book. It was upside down, so she had to flip it over to read the title.
HOW TO MARRY A MARQUIS
She dropped the book, half expecting lightning to strike her, right there in the library. Surely this had to be some kind of joke. She'd only decided that afternoon that she had to marry, and well.