(COMPLETED)
It's 1817 and there is nothing more a woman wants than to marry a rich man and live a life of comfort.
But not Nancy Brooks. Having spent half her life helping her mother run her laundry shop and the other half in the local library, Na...
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William Cooper entered the morning room of his family house to find two women sitting in the plush armchairs, sipping cups of tea.
"Good morning, Ma." William was mentally deciding how best to leave the room as fast as possible, not wanting to get into a conversation with them right now. He turned to the second woman. "Good to see you, Mrs. Fortescue."
"Have a seat, my dear!" Mary Fortescue said in a thin, high-pitched voice. She wore a long gray dress and had powdered hair with little flowers in it. "Your mother and I were just discussing Laura!"
Reluctantly, William sat down. "I hope she is doing well."
"Oh, no need to pretend now, William." Mrs. Fortescue let out a loud laugh. "We all know you two are good friends who keep in touch."
"If you say so, Mrs. Fortescue," William said carefully.
"I was just telling Duchess Norfolk here that Laura spends too much time with her books. It's time that she settled down. What do you think?" Mrs. Fortescue looked at William.
To an outsider, it may seem that she meant for her writer daughter, Laura Fortescue, to marry William Cooper. However, the truth was far from this. William's older cousin, Richard Gilmore, who William had been close with when they were children, was a wealthy businessman who Mary Fortescue had had her eyes on for quite some time now. She wanted Richard to ask for Laura's hand and was always dropping hints to William that he should persuade Richard to do so. William would do anything but this, despite the fact that his mother had recently taken to acting as her best friend's advocate and occasionally asking William to "talk to Richard."
"I think you are right, Mrs. Fortescue." William had learned that the fastest way to get away from women was to agree with everything they said. He turned to his mother. "Ma, I just remembered I have some important engagements this afternoon. I better get ready."
"All right, dear." His mother smiled, unsuspecting. However, Mrs. Fortescue gave him a disapproving look and replied curtly to his good-bye.
William heaved a heavy sigh as soon as he left the morning room. He was relieved to be away from this ordeal, even though he knew that one day or another, he would have to face them again.
He had not entirely lied about his engagements this afternoon, though...
= = =
"William!" Laura cried as he entered her study, where she had been bent over a book just a moment ago. "About time!"
William smiled broadly. The servant who had shown him in stood at the doorway to the study.
"Miss Fortescue, would you like me to get some refreshments for Lord Cooper?" the servant asked.
"Tea, please." Laura turned back to William as the servant bowed and left. "Do sit down, William. Has my mother been giving you trouble recently?" She looked amused.
