As if she did not wish her sisters to reply, Elmina turned as she finished speaking and left the room.
When she had gone, Mirabel looked at Deirdre for some time before she said,
“She is too young to know what she is doing.”
“Yes, I know,” Deirdre agreed, “but she will find out what he is like once she is married to him.”
“If you ask me, he will make her utterly and completely miserable,” Mirabel said, “and we ought to stop it.”
“How?” Deirdre asked. “You know Papa in fact is thrilled at the idea of having the Marquis as his son-in-law and it will solve his financial problems, we can be quite certain of that.”
“I have realised that already,” Mirabel agreed, “but it is Elmina we have to think about.”
“I have a shrewd suspicion that Elmina is quite capable of looking after herself,” D
