"Seeking the Niceties of Marriage", by Gratiana Lovelace, 2021 (Done)

Ch. 04: Plucking

"Seeking the Niceties of Marriage", Ch. 04: Plucking,
May 08, 2021 by Gratiana Lovelace 

(An original Regency Romance story copyrighted by Gratiana Lovelace, 2021; All rights reserved)  [(1) story cover above left]

[Illustrations: I cast my stories as I write them. So from time to time, I will illustrate my story with actors and such, including: Richard Armitage as Lord Edward Carlisle, Daniela Denby-Ashe as Lady Emily Creighton, Blake Ritson as Lord Kittredge Wells, Polly Walker as Lady Patience Creighton, Bill Nighy as Lord Nigel Creighton the Earl of Stoke, and others as noted.]

[Author's Note: This original Regency romance is a work of fiction, and as such, any character names, scenes or other descriptions were made at the creative discretion of this author. And this is a gentle romance (G to PG-13), but with some frank discussions about love and marriage put to humorous effect. This is my disclaimer.]

Ch. 4: Plucking

The following morning after the Marshall's ball, Lady Emily Creighton is astonished to find her rather fastidious cousin Lord Kittredge Wells attendant upon her in the Creighton's cozy family parlor--or rather, he is attendant upon her eyebrow.

Lady Emily is wearing a rather plain light blue muslin morning gown—when her gown choice would have been light blue satin—or at least taffeta if she had known that she would have a caller this morning. And Lord Kittredge is resplendent in his striking indigo suit with a fuschia waistcoat and cravat. The polished buttons and buckles upon his person gleam so well that the room is the brighter for them.

Lord Kittredge: "Now Emmy, be reasonable. That eyebrow thatch must be plucked if you are to make a serious effort to ensnare my best friend Lord Edward Carlisle into matrimony."

Lady Emily: Pouting, she rebukes him whiningly. "I am not trying to ensnare anyone! Let alone, the sought after Lord Edward Carlisle! And he offered for me!"

Kittredge: "But you could, my dear—ensnare him, that is. Or shall we rephrase and say entice him? You just need to let me groom your eyebrows into two separate arches, such that they frame your pretty eyes more pleasingly."

Lady Emily: "This is the first I have heard that I have pretty eyes." She counters, suspicious that he is trying to flatter her into capitulation. And with his mention of her eyebrow last evening, Lady Emily wonders if Lord Edward had put Lord Kittredge up to tending to her eyebrows, plural, this morning.

Lord Kittredge: "Your eyes are pretty, Emmy. And you are pretty. But that single eye brow shelf is preventing everyone from seeing it. You are to ride with Edward this afternoon and you must make a good impression amongst the ton, if you hope to have his marriage proposal to you stand. In my limited experience, marriages are best made between parties who are similar—dispositions, ranks, and handsomeness or beauty. Edward is a strikingly handsome man. I believe that you have the first two, but ...." He does not finish his phrase, nor does he need to.

Lady Emily nods forlornly, for she wonders why should Lord Edward even look in her direction for his future wife? She believes herself to be plain, when it is truly the fault of her wretched eyebrow.

Lady Emily: "Kitt, do you really think I have a chance with Lord Edward?" She asks him wistfully.

Lord Kittredge: "I do. But it is a slim one, only while other ladies are still skittish about Edward's widowhood--and the nature of it." Then he claps his hand to his mouth in mortification. "But I have spoken out of turn."

Lady Emily: Lady Emily eyes her cousin with a shrewd squint. "What do you mean ... the nature of it?"

Lord Kittredge: "It is not for you to worry about, Emmy." He states eyeing her eyebrow with his tweezers poised between his fingers.