“Dame Alice!” Two vivid spots of red had appeared on Lady Leigh’s cheekbones, a match for the puce of her gown. “You speak out of turn!”

“I speak the truth!” her mother-in-law asserted. “You know it but you are too mealymouthed to deal plainly.”

I hid my smile in my glass of wine. Dame Alice was right. Most of the women at our Twelfth Night feast were covertly watching Robert, and some were not so covert, eyeing him with a hungry gaze. He looked very dashing in his Christmastide finery of black velvet laced with silver, and not for the first time I wondered how I could possibly have produced such a peacock when I was a dull little brown hen myself.

“They make a handsome couple,” I said mildly. “He is so dark and Catherine so fair.” Catherine and Robert stood a little apart in a corner of the parlor, deep in conversation. Her face was tilted up toward his and, illuminated by candlelight, she looked both serene and enraptured. As we watched, Robert took her hand and pressed a kiss to it in courtly fashion and she blushed before drawing it away. Robert smiled, the smile of a man who believed he could make the conquest, and a voice in my mind whispered: Don’t make it too easy for him...

“Catherine should go down on her knees to God in thanks for sending her such a lovesome husband,” Dame Alice opined. She filled her cup of mead from the bowl and waddled off, spilling much of it on the rushes as she went.

Lady Leigh sighed. “I must apologize for my husband’s mother. The older generation can be a little...earthy...in their speech.”

I waved away her apologies, glad to have her at a disadvantage. “It does not matter,” I said. “Though I do think they look well together and seem taken with each other’s company.”

Her poker demeanor softened slightly. “That is true. Once Catherine sets her heart on something, she is both determined and loyal.” Her tone was dry. “I believe she likes this proposed match very well.”

I was heartened by the mention of Catherine’s determined will. Perhaps she would be able to manage Robert. She certainly knew her own value for though she was clearly flattered by the attentions of so handsome a young man, she was not fawning on him. Robert, I thought with satisfaction, would have to work for her regard.

And if Catherine was eager to wed, her mother might be more inclined to agree to the match. I sensed that beneath her chilly exterior, Lady Leigh was fond of her eldest child. I decided to sweeten the pill.

“I understand that you have concerns about Robert’s behavior and his financial situation,” I said casually. “I do believe that a wife will steady him, and that the management of an estate will give him a good income and a focus for his attention...” I let that hang and as I had hoped, Lady Leigh’s nose twitched slightly like a hunting dog.