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couldn’t help but come out. “Well, I do not have a fortune to go with my face,” she said, smoothing Catriona’s hair. It was soft and probably wouldn’t hold a curl, but up close it had lots of pretty natural highlights. All of a sudden she felt a protectiveness, looking at her charge’s sad eyes in the mirror. “You’re very lovely, dear. You have wonderful skin, and your eyes sparkle, which is a sign of great intelligence.”
    “I hope at least someone is interested in me,” she said morosely. “It seems verra important that I marry.”
    “Don’t you want to be settled?” Lizzie asked, returning to wardrobe assessment. It was bad, really bad. She made a mental note to send a message to the dressmaker that very evening, to be ready for them first thing in the morning. She already had a list of parties lined up and didn’t want to miss any of them. “With your fortune, you’ll have your pick, don’t you worry about that.”
    “It doesna seem savory, getting a husband like that,” she said. “I thought it would be different.”
    Lizzie snorted. Didn’t they all? “Don’t fret about it. It just means you’ll be able to find someone you actually like, is all. What kind of gentleman do you fancy?”
    Catriona giggled, her eyes shining. For a moment her plain face was transformed to being truly pretty. “I dinna know any gentleman, so I’m not sure. But, I’d like someone handsome and kind. Thankfully he won’t need to be rich, since I guess I have enough for both of us.”
    Lizzie shook her head vehemently. “Stop that thinking right there. You can never be too rich. But I’m afraid you might have to choose between handsome and kind,” she teased. “To have both would greatly narrow your choices. It might even be unheard of.”
    “Well, my brother is handsome,” she said. “And I’m mad at him now so it clouds my judgment, but usually he’s kind.”
    “Oh, Catriona, that’s funny,” Lizzie said with a laugh at her candor. Such a sweet sense of humor and disarming honesty like hers were going to get her eaten alive. “Now, you mustn’t take any offense at anything I say to you. It’s all for your own good.”
    Catriona slumped onto the edge of her bed. “I expect I shall be found lacking,” she sighed.
    Lizzie looked up abruptly from the unpacking. The poor girl looked frightened out of her wits, when she should have been eager and excited. She probably wished she was back on her farm. As much as she dreaded having to spend time with the brother, it would most likely be for the best to have him around. A sense of familiarity and comfort.
    “There’s nothing lacking about you, Catriona,” she said fiercely, thinking of all the agents and casting directors who’d ever made her feel inadequate. She held up a brown dress and grinned at her then. “But your clothes could use some help. Would you like to visit the dressmaker tomorrow?”
    Once again the young girl’s face was transformed by her radiant smile. “I would,” she said, clasping her hands in front of her.
    Lizzie suppressed the twinge she felt in her heart region, unsure why this particular young lady was making her feel all soppy and protective. Probably because she wasn’t a terrible, monstrous spoiled brat. The last girl she’d squired about town looking for a husband had pinched her incessantly and pretended to cry over every tiny thing that didn’t go her way. She didn’t know who she felt more sorry for, that little harridan or the money grubbing lecher she’d ended up engaged to.
    “We shall go first thing. In fact I’m going to send the messenger to Lady Amberly’s dressmaker this evening so she’ll be ready for us. I think rose would look lovely with your coloring, maybe some cream and pale lavender as well.”
    Catriona’s eyes shone with fashion lust, just her kind of girl. Perhaps these next few months wouldn’t be so horrible, the brother notwithstanding. They’d just make him stand outside the