Lady Elstead did not, of course, reveal her plan to Henrietta and Caroline, and her ‘lists’ were kept even more closely to her matronly bosom. That Lady Elstead was a ‘list maker’ was known to her entire family and household staff. Lists were, to her, wondrous things, the writing of which gave substance to aims, form to formless ideas. She made lists for everything, from the contents of her jewel casket, with an additional one noting when each item was last cleaned or repaired, to those who had sent invitations over the last two Seasons, annotated as ‘accepted’, ‘declined’ and ‘unable’. The ‘unables’ were those where some unforeseen event had prevented attendance at a function she had graciously accepted. Of course, some lists were mundane, but the ‘suitors’ lists were most secret. Before the Season even began she had considered various single gentlemen of the Ton who would be suitable for her Caroline, and also those who would obtain her hand only over her own dead body. The list that she drew up for Henrietta was not identical, since, despite her maternal lineage, Henrietta was a Gaydon, not a Felbridge, and there were nuances, undercurrents.

She was proud of her ‘suitors’ lists. She thought them neither ridiculously ambitious, nor timid. They were not, of course, prescriptive. Should one of the gentlemen she accounted beyond touch show interest, she would add him with a flourish. She wanted a good match for both her protégées, but Caroline’s future was the dearer to her, naturally.