"Do you have a literal list?" August said, once again exasperated by his sister. A list. She had a list she kept in his chest, and none of them were things he actually cared about, when it came down to it.

---

  

Uh oh, his tone told her she was teetering on spending more of his patience. Nonchalantly, she stuffed the parchment back into her bosom, "No, of course I don't. Anyhow, you need to be thinking about who you should get introduced to. You're getting older and with your leg... well, you need to be precise about which of the debutantes you spend time with. You'll mope around about politics with a middle class girl for three hours and then the evening will be over and you'll have not gotten any closer to marriage than you are now."

  

August rolled his eyes. "Thank you, Elsbeth," he said, in his most thankless tone.

---

  

"Don't make me frown, August," She scolded, frowning as she did so, "You'll give my face lines like Mother's. Someone has to look out for you or you'll be alone forever. Either you can be an active participant in debutante hunting or you can let me drag you kicking and screaming down the aisle. It's your choice."

  

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