That was a deal blunter than Pat had expected; in fact, blunt enough to make one reflect that this deliciously frothy young lady’s father, at least, must be both fiercely intelligent and fiercely determined. She took a moment to adjust her expectations before replying. “I’m not making excuses, no. And I’ve no idea what you ought to do. But I’m fairly sure that if he’s disregarding you now, before your father—” She clamped her lips shut, too late.

“Before my father has made over the large sum of money that’s his reason for wanting to marry me. You might as well say it. Everyone knows it. I know it.”

“If that was his reason—or his only reason—for proposing, he’s stupider than I realised,” Pat said. “Any man ought to think himself lucky to have you, leaving the money out of the question. But, yes, it is in question, and—” Loyalty to Jimmy and liking for Fen warred for a moment, along with a weaselly awareness that she wouldn’t mind at all knowing that the engagement was off. That was unworthy, but Fen was alone and distressed and needed a friend. Pat salved her conscience with determination to be that friend. “Look, since you ask, he isn’t showing himself to advantage in the slightest, and I think you’d be advised to have it out with him before you take an irreversible step. I do think he’s capable of better,” she made herself add. “I have the impression he’s under a lot of stress at the moment. But he might need reminding of his responsibilities.”

“You’re contorting yourself to be fair to him,” Fen observed. “I don’t suppose you’d tolerate a fiancé treating you with disinterest.”

“To be honest, if I had to marry, I’d far prefer a husband who was mostly unaware of my existence.”

Fen gave a yelp of laughter. “Pat!”

“Well, I don’t see the appeal,” Pat said, grinning. “Men are dreadfully self-centred in my experience. One is expected to listen to everything they want to say while making their lives pleasant and all without a word of thanks. I may be biased,” she added fairly. “I mostly know brothers, not husbands, and I’ve never felt any urge to marry, so you probably shouldn’t ask my opinion. But I do feel that if you are to marry, if you want to, then—well, the other party ought to want to just as much.”

“And Jimmy’s not giving that impression,” Fen said. “Is he?”

“Men do get cold feet, I understand,” Pat said, before remembering she was talking to a double jilt. “Er...”

“And so do women, yes, yes. I didn’t actually want to get cold feet again, you know. If I end a third engagement, people will say the most ghastly things about me, and Daddy will be quite exasperated. I’ve been telling myself that it’s my fault for inviting myself here, trying to believe there’s nothing at all to worry about and I’m just being silly. But there is something wrong. Isn’t there?”