Luck Is No Lady(12)

Narrowing her gaze, Emma looked between her younger sisters. Then she stood. “Do not be ridiculous. My Season came and went years ago. You know that.”

“Just because you are no longer a debutante does not mean you cannot meet someone and fall in love,” Lily insisted.

Emma smiled at Lily’s endless optimism. “That is exactly what it means. I am twenty-five, an old maid. It is my job to see you both settled. I have neither time nor inclination for anything else. You two need to focus your attention on your own futures. Leave mine for me.”

“Well, it hardly seems fair,” Portia said with an emphatic scowl. “You have had years to fuss and plan for all of us. Not only Lily and me, but Papa. And before that, you took care of Mother. I would say it is time we returned the courtesy.”

Emma felt a sharp clenching of her insides at the thought of how ineffectual she had been in caring for her parents. Their mother’s health had deteriorated unremittingly after she fell ill. The doctors had been unable to do much, and Emma had barely been able to keep her comfortable. And their father—Emma’s stomach turned—he had been nearly impossible to reach after his wife’s death. All of Emma’s attempts at saving him from his destructive behavior had been for naught.

She had failed her parents. She could not fail her sisters.

“I do not think it would take much for you to garner a few dance partners, Emma,” Portia stated earnestly. “Perhaps if you made some attempt to look like you actually wanted to socialize… Ow!”

The youngest Chadwick’s fondness for plain speaking earned her a none-too-subtle pinch from Lily.

Emma smiled to disguise her own heavy thoughts. “It is my duty to make sure you and Lily do not get into trouble. That is more than enough to keep me occupied.”

“I just think you would enjoy a dance or two,” Portia continued to argue. “Angelique can keep an eye on us.”

Emma and Lily looked at their younger sister with matching expressions of disbelief. After a moment, Portia gave a snorting chuckle. “Yes, well, perhaps not.”

Lily shook her head with a grin. “Do you know what she said to me just this morning? She asked if I had ever thought of dying my hair red. When I said I hadn’t, she asked if she should consider it.”

“I do hope you dissuaded her from such a notion,” Portia said through her chuckles. “The ink black she colors it now is theatrical enough—can you imagine a garish red topping her head?”

“I would rather not,” Emma replied in full honesty.

Lily caught her gaze. Her gentle features were fixed into an earnest expression. “We just want to see you happy.”

“You know me,” Emma replied. “I am never happier than when I am sorting details and solving problems. Planning for the two of you to be presented to society, and witnessing your success, has been extremely rewarding.”

The girls glanced at each other. The look that passed between them was impossible to miss. They were not convinced.

Emma sighed, then firmed up her resolve and looked at both girls in turn. “We have all been rather isolated since Mother’s illness. I expect the two of you to take full advantage of this opportunity to enjoy yourselves. Have fun, make friends with other girls your age, dance with interesting gentlemen.”

“And hunt for husbands,” Portia added irreverently.

Emma threw her youngest sister a look of mild reproach. “Yes. That is part of it.”

“What will happen with you once we marry?” Lily asked.

“Perhaps Angelique will have me to stay on as a companion,” Emma suggested.

“You expect us to allow you to hide away, barely more than a servant, while we cheerfully traipse off to new lives?”

“Portia,” Lily admonished.

“Well, it bothers me,” Portia argued, tossing her braid over her shoulder with an emphatic flip of her wrist. “I hate to think what you might be sacrificing in order to launch us into society.”

“As I told you before, I had some savings.” Emma smiled in an effort to put them at ease. “We are managing fine. Neither of you need to be concerned with such things.”

Portia eyed her with a hint of suspicion while Lily maintained an expression of calm curiosity.

“This whole situation is just so unfair,” Portia insisted.

Emma smoothed her features. It was on the tip of her tongue to point out that very little in the world was fair. But such a comment would do no good.

“There are no other options,” she answered simply.

“So we are just to flounce about town while you struggle to manage everything on your own?”