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I am able to recognize what is fashionable, despite my lack of interest in my own wardrobe. Will you be looking over the young ladies, Gareth?” she asked more seriously.
    “As a matter-of-fact, Aunt Kate, there is one woman whom I have agreed to…well, I’m not sure what I agreed to. I did tell you that I visited the Earl of Stalbridge earlier today?”
    “Yes, to deliver your dispatches.”
    “It seems that the earl is quite concerned about his daughter, and what will become of her when he returns to Spain. She has not had a successful Season, but he wants her settled so he can return to the campaign with a free mind.”
    “What is her name? I am sure I have heard something from Gloria about the young lady. You remember Lady Marchmont, Gareth? She keeps me au courant on all the latest scandals. Usually I just listen out of sheer politeness, but I must confess that with your uncle’s illness, I have become quite dependent on gossip, just to keep my mind off things.”
    “Her name is Lady Arden Huntly, but evidently she is known as…”
    “Arden the Insufferable! My goodness, I’ve heard all about her!” exclaimed his aunt.
    “Well, I met her briefly, and she certainly is an arrogant young woman.”
    “And what exactly have you agreed to, Gareth?”
    “The earl wants me for a son-in-law, is the long and short of it,” announced Gareth sheepishly.
    “He wants you to marry his daughter!” exclaimed his aunt again.
    “What he really wants is to know that her future is settled before he leaves. Evidently he blames her arrogance partly on himself for leaving her with her mother’s sister. She has been too lenient, so if Lady Arden does not receive an offer, he has decided to send her to his own sister, Lady Somers.”
    “Millicent Brooke should not be given charge over an animal, much less a young girl,” replied his aunt. “I remember her as a proud, cold woman. She froze her husband into the grave, I have no doubt.”
    “Aunt Kate, I have never heard you be so critical!”
    “Well, it is quite true. She was too cold to allow him into her bed more than was necessary to get an heir. He turned to opera dancers and was killed in a drunken fight over one in Covent Garden. She still wears mourning, but only because she looks good in black.”
    Gareth choked on his sherry.
    “Oh, I know it is uncharitable of me,” said his aunt, “but one cannot always be charitable, Gareth. And I confess that it gives me great, if unholy pleasure, to call Millicent what she is: proud and unfeeling.”
    “It sounds as though she would be a good match for her niece, then. Maybe she can bring the Insufferable around.”
    “No, my dear, coldness and arrogance will not produce anything but more of the same. And we don’t know that Arden is as bad as she is painted.”
    “So the earl would have me believe. He is not eager to send Arden to his sister’s. He is merely eager to know that she will be in stronger hands than Mrs. Denbeigh’s. Enter Captain Gareth Richmond. He is convinced that I am the only man who would be right for her.”
    “What exactly did you promise, Gareth?”
    “That I would pay my attentions to her, and woo her if she proves attractive to me. As the earl said, I will be looking to get married, now that I am soon to become a marquess,” continued Gareth. Horrified at where the conversation had led him, he started to apologize to his aunt.
    “No, no, he is right, Gareth. Although I would not like to see you rush into anything, marriage will be a concern for you now.”
    “Well, I admire the earl, but I’m damned if my affection for him will lead me to leg-shackle myself to a black-haired, long-nosed witch!”
    “So, she resembles her father?”
    “Her nose is not as pronounced,” grinned Gareth, “but, yes, there is a strong likeness.”
    “Too bad she is not more attractive, then,” his aunt said deviously, intrigued by the vehemence of his response.
    “Oh, she is attractive enough, although