"No," Ford agreed immediately. If there had been something wrong with him, Ford would have... well. He wasn't sure what he would have done. Turned down his offer to marry Verity? Maybe, maybe not. It probably depended on what was wrong with him, and whether it was minor enough to be overlooked when the alternative was almost certainly dooming Verity to a very miserable life, and maybe the rest of the girls too. It wasn't as though they had other offers, and after the kidnapping they weren't likely to get any. And if Verity hadn't managed to find a match quickly, it was unlikely that Grace would be able to do so on her second season while living with an older sister whose reputation was now tainted. Verity was supposed to be the one who was going to excel at this, out of the three of them; if she was stuck at home on the path towards spinsterhood, it would likely be the same for all of them.
So would he have done anything differently if there had been something wrong with Mr. Swann? Ford didn't know. Truth be told, he'd been purposefully not looking into it. He thought if he took too much of an interest in Swann one way or another he'd find something to fault him for, something which would prevent him from giving his blessing to this marriage in good conscious, so he hadn't asked too many questions at any point in the courtship. Ignorance was bliss, as the saying went — except this didn't feel particularly blissful. His stomach was in knots and he couldn't shake the feeling that there probably was something wrong with Swann and Verity was probably going to be miserable and that it was certainly his fault. Interrogating prospective suitors was his job, as their guardian, and he'd mostly failed to do it, and now if anything happened the blame could be laid very squarely on his shoulders.
"Verity said yes," he pointed out. He was trying to convince himself that this was all fine, but finding little purchase for the notion. "So this must be what she wants, right?" Of course, Verity saying yes didn't mean this was what she wanted at all, but hopefully Noble wouldn't point that out.
So would he have done anything differently if there had been something wrong with Mr. Swann? Ford didn't know. Truth be told, he'd been purposefully not looking into it. He thought if he took too much of an interest in Swann one way or another he'd find something to fault him for, something which would prevent him from giving his blessing to this marriage in good conscious, so he hadn't asked too many questions at any point in the courtship. Ignorance was bliss, as the saying went — except this didn't feel particularly blissful. His stomach was in knots and he couldn't shake the feeling that there probably was something wrong with Swann and Verity was probably going to be miserable and that it was certainly his fault. Interrogating prospective suitors was his job, as their guardian, and he'd mostly failed to do it, and now if anything happened the blame could be laid very squarely on his shoulders.
"Verity said yes," he pointed out. He was trying to convince himself that this was all fine, but finding little purchase for the notion. "So this must be what she wants, right?" Of course, Verity saying yes didn't mean this was what she wanted at all, but hopefully Noble wouldn't point that out.
Set by Lady!