Mariana admittedly couldn't speak to Tatiana's maternal instincts but she did know that her niece had never shown herself to be the broody type. Mariana had been much the same at Tatty's age though, she hadn't even wanted a husband! She loved her sons albeit to varying degrees and had taken in her orphaned niece and raised her as her own daughter, but it was hardly the same thing. She had chosen Tatty, all she'd wanted was a little girl of her own, a fresh copy of herself to release into the world but better prepared to carve out the life she wanted. Tatiana couldn't understand that yet, she was too young and inexperienced to have regrets. Inheriting another woman's child and before she'd had her own was not ideal at all. All that said, men rarely cherished their daughters and it was likely that Macmillan was no different. He hadn't introduced his daughter to Tatty which suggested that he likely didn't care what his daughter thought of her. If the daughter was a problem it probably wasn't out of the realm of possibility to get her out of the way one way or another. So the daughter wasn't the worst obstacle, being a second son, however, was another matter. That one wasn't quite as easy a fix but the same solution could be used for both if necessary. It was a lot of complication though, a lot of mess to make things ideal.
Neither of these things seemed to be deterrents for Tatiana though, she'd have known both details before even considering him. Was it possible that she was leading Macmillan on to spur Valerian into action? Her son was a fool if he wanted Tatiana and had done nothing all this time about it, she'd have betrothed them herself if she hadn't thought it would be ill-received. It was one thing to develop feelings for the cousin you were raised with and eventually marry them - wasn't that the plot of Mansfield Park? Not that she'd ever read it. It was another thing entirely to raise two cousins together with the expectation that they would be man and wife, she may as well have encouraged them to fornicate the moment they figured out how! Ultimately she thought Valerian would simply step up to the plate, that it would come naturally, especially if she dropped little hints along the way but somehow her very intelligent son was a simpleton in this regard. Obviously that was Eustace's contribution. Well, the time for subtle hints was long gone, he evidently needed a stronger push in the right direction.
"I think what's best for Tatiana is a handsome, firstborn son from a wealthy and respectable pureblood family. Unfortunately gentlemen like that are hard to come by at the moment..." Mariana shot him a coy, sideways glance and waited to see if the pieces fell into place or if he needed her to spell it out.
Neither of these things seemed to be deterrents for Tatiana though, she'd have known both details before even considering him. Was it possible that she was leading Macmillan on to spur Valerian into action? Her son was a fool if he wanted Tatiana and had done nothing all this time about it, she'd have betrothed them herself if she hadn't thought it would be ill-received. It was one thing to develop feelings for the cousin you were raised with and eventually marry them - wasn't that the plot of Mansfield Park? Not that she'd ever read it. It was another thing entirely to raise two cousins together with the expectation that they would be man and wife, she may as well have encouraged them to fornicate the moment they figured out how! Ultimately she thought Valerian would simply step up to the plate, that it would come naturally, especially if she dropped little hints along the way but somehow her very intelligent son was a simpleton in this regard. Obviously that was Eustace's contribution. Well, the time for subtle hints was long gone, he evidently needed a stronger push in the right direction.
"I think what's best for Tatiana is a handsome, firstborn son from a wealthy and respectable pureblood family. Unfortunately gentlemen like that are hard to come by at the moment..." Mariana shot him a coy, sideways glance and waited to see if the pieces fell into place or if he needed her to spell it out.
