William Monk 02 - A Dangerous Mourning

afford—”
    He sat facing her, balancing on the arm of one of the easy chairs.
    “I have read a little of the war in the newspapers,” he said with a pucker between his brows. “But one never knows how accurate the accounts are. I fear they tell us very much what they wish us to believe. I don’t suppose you have read any—no, of course not.”
    “Yes I have!” she contradicted immediately, forgetting in the heat of the discourse how improper it was for well-bred women to have access to anything but the social pages of a newspaper.
    But he was not shocked, only the more interested.
    “Indeed, one of the bravest and most admirable men I nursed was a war correspondent with one of London’s best newspapers,” she went on. “When he was too ill to write himself, he would dictate to me, and I sent his dispatches for him.”
    “Good gracious. You do impress me, Miss Latterly,” he said sincerely. “If you can spare time, I should be most interested to hear some of your opinions upon what you saw. I have heard rumors of great incompetence and a terrible number of unnecessary deaths, but then others say such stories are spread by the disaffected and the troublemakers wishing to advance their own cause at the expense of others.”
    “Oh, there is some of that too,” she agreed, setting her quill and paper aside. He seemed so genuinely concerned it gave her a distinct pleasure to recount to him both some of what she had seen and experienced and the conclusions she had drawn from it.
    He listened with total attention, and his few questions were perceptive and made with both pity and a wry humor she found most attractive. Away from the influence of his family, and for an hour forgetting his sister’s death and all the misery and suspicion it brought in its wake, he was a man of individual ideas, some quite innovative with regard to social conditions and the terms of agreement and service between the governed and the governing.
    They were deep in discussion and the shadows outside were lengthening when Romola came in, and although they were both aware of her, it was several minutes before they let go of the topic of argument and acknowledged her presence.
    “Papa wishes to speak to you,” she said with a frown. “He is waiting in the withdrawing room.”
    Reluctantly Cyprian rose to his feet and excused himself from Hester as if she had been a much regarded friend, not a semiservant.
    When he had gone Romola looked at Hester with perplexed concern in her smooth face. Her complexion really was very lovely and her features perfectly proportioned, all except her lower lip, which was a trifle full and drooped at the corners sometimes, giving her a discontented look in repose, especially when she was tired.
    “Really, Miss Latterly, I don’t know how to express myself without seeming critical, or how to offer advice where it may not be desired. But if you wish to obtain a husband, and surely all natural women must, then you will have to learn to master this intellectual and argumentative side of your nature. Men do not find it in the least attractive in a woman. It makes them uncomfortable. It is not restful and does not make a man feel at his ease or as if you give proper deference to his judgment. One does not wish to appear opinionated! That would be quite dreadful.”
    She moved a stray hair back into its pins with a skilled hand.
    “I can remember my mama advising me when I was a girl—it is most unbecoming in a woman to be agitated about anything. Almost all men dislike agitation and anything that detracts from a woman’s image as serene, dependable, innocent of all vulgarity or meanness, never critical of anything except slovenliness or unchastity, and above all never contradictory towards a man, even if you should think him mistaken. Learn how to run your household, how to eat elegantly, how to dress well and deport yourself with dignity and charm, the correct form of address for everyone in society, and a little painting or drawing, as much music as you can master, especially singing if you have any gift at all, some needlework, an elegant hand with a pen, and a pleasing turn of phrase for a letter—and above all how to be obedient and control your temper no matter how you may be provoked.
    “If you do all these things, Miss Latterly, you will marry as well as your comeliness and your station in life allow, and you will make your husband happy. Therefore you also will be happy.” She shook her