Marrying the Icarus

A Suitable Husband

"Father, please." I placed my warm hands on top of his, before sighing and staring straight into the eyes of a man who clearly had no time for a serious conversation.

"Betsey..." He picked up my hand off his, before stroking my dark brown hair with a slight sense of care.
"I--your mother and I are not getting any youger. You know that. With our current financial situation, it only seems fair that you -not to mention your sisters- find a suitable husband who can support not only himself, but our family. The Schuyler family." He smiled finally, expecting me to understand every last word he spoke. How could I?
I was never the oldest of my sisters, so why should it have been  my job to marry rich? Surely Angelica would have taken the first step to marriage by this time, but it seemed to have been working the other way around.

As I carefully brushed through my hair and stared into my vanity mirror, a small knock on the door interuppted my deep thoughts.
"Hey." A familiar voice spoke out from outside of my bedroom. I grinned slightly, but not so much that I could have mistaken myself for a woman whose face was filled with actual joy.
Slowly waltzing into my space was Angelica. Her long curls bounced up and down as she majestically strolled over to me.
I continued to brush through my hair.
"I heard what you and father were discussing." She sounded so apologetic.
Angelica was always the woman I aspired to be. She was tough, witty, kind, and was nowhere near as helpless as I was.
She always knew the right time to say things, and most importantly, she always knew what to say.

Compare that to my little sister, Peggy, who never had the perception of what to say and when to say it. She was constantly reminding us of the rights and wrongs, "Daddy said to be home by sundown! Daddy said that we weren't aloud to go downtown!" She would say. Of course it irritated me, but Peggy always reminded me of my youth, of everything I used to be like.

"Why can't you get married, Angelica?" I asked with more desperation than I had planned.
She stared at me blankly, sighing.
"Eliza, here's something you need to know: don't marry the first man you meet." She warned, placing her hand on my shoulder.
I frowned, "Why not?" She laughed, shaking her head in disbelief.
"True love isn't hidden in plain sight. You have to go out and look for it." She moved to the door, "I haven't found it yet."