"My arts patronage has nothing to do with it," Oz said, shaking his hand at her in a gentle shooing motion. "If you're looking for an artistic husband, that's probably half your trouble already." Their father being the notable exception (and only then because he had been born into an estate), artists were seldom able to support themselves properly, much less a household. Of course, Oz had no say in the matter of who his sisters married or didn't; even if his parents died with the lot of them unmarried (which seemed increasingly likely by the year) he doubted any of them would seriously want his input or his blessing, whatever Christa said in the moment. Still — he could not imagine any of his sisters being happily married to someone without the means to support them in the same lifestyle they were currently accustomed to, and artists generally didn't fit the bill.

"It shouldn't be hard to find someone to tolerate you," he teased lightly, ignoring the jibe about his own marriage. "There are moments when even I find you slightly tolerable."

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