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had a
delightful way of laughing,” Sophie continued with a wistful smile
on her face.
    “ Sure, if you enjoy a bunch
of wheezing,” she muttered.
    She glared at her. “He didn’t
wheeze.”
    “ No, he didn’t. It just
sounded like he did.”
    With a huff, she ran her hands along
the ruffles in her dress and shrugged. “So he didn’t have an
elegant laugh. What does that matter? The important thing was that
he showed great merriment.”
    “ Sophie, I know it’s hard to
believe, but things worked out the way they did for a reason. Now
you can focus on finding someone who’s better. Even if you must
bear the burden of the bedroom to give him an heir, it helps if
he’s the right kind of gentleman.”
    Sophie stared at her for a moment and
despite her pink cheeks, she leaned closer and whispered, “Is the
bedroom really that awful?”
    Agatha bit her tongue. She should never
have voiced that thought aloud. All she’d done was scare her poor
sister, and Sophie was far more delicate than she was. With a
smile, she ventured, “There’s nothing of interest in the bedroom
except your dresses. My advice is to let your husband do his
business while you think of all your lovely dresses.”
    “ Is that what you
did?”
    “ I was only married for one
day, so I only had to be with my husband one time and one time is
all I needed to realize how boring the whole process is.” Actually,
painful and humiliating. But she decided not to burden her sister
with that. Perhaps if her husband took the time to make sure she
was ready for consummating their union and had the decency to
respect her, her sister would only be bored. That would be a great
kindness on his part. Returning her gaze to Sophie, she said,
“Remember we’re here to find you a titled gentleman. That will make
everything else easier to accept.”
    “ Lord Dabney was a titled
gentleman.” Sophie sighed and traced her ruffles. “I would have
been a countess and had a future earl.”
    “ You can still be a countess
and give birth to an earl. You must stay focused. There’s no sense
in dwelling on the past or what might’ve been.”
    She clasped Agatha’s hands and took a
deep breath. “You’re right. And wise.”
    The carriage came to a stop and Agatha
couldn’t be more grateful that the long ride was at an end. She
followed her sister out of the carriage and into the large
townhouse belonging to Lord Clement. She knew so little of the host
but it was nice to see how many available gentlemen were
there.
    She turned to Sophie and smiled. “You
have plenty of titled gentlemen to choose from. We just need to
find the one who has the most money.”
    “ Is the amount of money he
has that important?”
    Chuckling, she scanned the ballroom.
“Of course it is.” If she was going to be stuck in marriage, she
might as well surround herself with more money. “They say money is
a cold companion but don’t heed any mind to that nonsense. Money
will never run off to a mistress or demand more of your time than
you’re willing to commit. You get to tell it what to
do.”
    “ Surely, there must be some
marriages that develop into love.”
    This time Agatha did roll her eyes. She
shouldn’t be surprised by her sister’s naiveté, considering she
thought Lord Dabney was an impressive gentleman. Tapping her
fingers together, she studied the gentlemen who weren’t dancing and
finally spotted one who showed promise.
    “ Sophie,” she began as she
nudged her sister, “what about Lord Sheldon? I hear he has a
carriage with gold wheels. Judging by his clothes, I’d say he’s
very comfortable, financially speaking of course.”
    “ He looks old.”
    “ Well, he did lose his wife.
He’s older than your typical bachelor, but he needs an heir and is
old enough where he’ll probably leave you alone most of the time.
Besides, thirty-four isn’t that old.”
    “ I suppose…”
    Agatha took her sister by the arm and
led her toward him. “Besides, all you have to