Amber frowned. “What men? Which men?”
“Well,” Diana said as she waggled her eyebrows. “I’ve created a list.” She pulled several sheets of foolscap from her pocket and set them on the coverlet between them. “I hope that wasn’t presumptuous of me. This has to be overwhelming, and I thought I’d help you sort the wheat from the chaff.”
Amber stared down at the list. Diana had written nearly two dozen names along with their full title and pedigree. She’d also made notes as to their per annum income and their habits, which included interest, faults, and detractors. Under one man’s name, she’d written, “Laughs like a donkey.”
Amber pointed to it. “Truly?”
“Oh, yes. It might not bother you, but listening to that braying night and day would put me off my food. You’ll have to let me know when you meet him. He’ll be at Hyde Park today and has written Elliott requesting an introduction.”
So formal. So very different from what she was used to. “What does your brother think?”
“I doubt he knows. I’ve been corresponding with his secretary. Elliott won’t get involved until it’s time to negotiate the marriage settlement.”
Naturally. She should have realized that, but there was so much to remember. “What do you think?”
Diana grinned. “Well, that’s the question, isn’t it? It depends on what you prefer.”
So began a delightful hour spent in gossip. Diana had plenty of tales of who was accounted sensible, who was not, and who was overly fond of hunting or had bad breath. Some of the gentlemen on the list frequented the Lyon’s Den, and several more had been the topic of conversation inside the Den. The two ladies talked with animation and much laughter, and Amber began to see the girl Diana must have been before her forced marriage to a sickly man, back when she’d been full of life. She was undoubtedly a beautiful woman when she smiled.
But then Diana gasped as she looked at the clock on the mantle. “Goodness, we must get dressed now if we’re to make the luncheon. But I must send the acceptances for tonight. Will it be the theater or the ball?”
“Which one will your brother likely attend? Do we need his escort?”
“We do not, and I think he’ll be at the ball. By showing up at Almack’s last night, he announced that he’s looking for a bride. Much easier to hunt for a woman at the balls.”
Good thing that Diana had no idea how much her words cut straight through Amber’s heart. Not only was Elliott unwilling to wed her, but he was now hunting for a different girl, one with a pedigree and a family of political influence. She wondered if he had a list akin to the one Diana had made. One where the girls were ranked in order and noted with things about teeth and unappealing habits.
He probably did, and Amber would do well to remember it.
“Let’s go to the theater,” she said abruptly. “My feet will be aching after everything this afternoon.”
Diana flashed her a sympathetic smile. “I believe that’s for the best. He needs a political wife, you realize.”
This was not a discussion she wished to have with Elliott’s sister. “He explained it in painful detail last night.”
Diana’s expression took on horrified look. “He wasn’t cruel, was he? You haven’t developed tender feelings for him, have you?”
Tender feelings? No. More like furious, angry, lustful, achingly frustrated feelings. But she wasn’t going to say that to Diana. “Let’s have no more talk of your brother. He is out of my thoughts and replaced by at least a dozen other gentlemen.” In the last hour, they had pared down Diana’s list to fourteen possibilities, but three of special interest.
“Excellent,” Diana said with a bright smile. “Now hurry and dress. We have no time at all!”