For the past two weeks her elder sister had been blue-deviled to the point of outright surliness. At first Harry had ascribed Rachel's ill temper to the fact that Jason had returned to Falconridge in the midst of the Little Season. Upon further consideration, she realized how absurd that was, since her sister despised social engagements. After Rachel hied herself back to Harleigh, Harry knew they must have had another quarrel. Certainly their behavior here at Roger's country house indicated as much. But Harry was unable to get Rachel to confide in her, other than making disparaging remarks about the earl's inability to hold his liquor and his possessing the wits of a sand flea. With the wedding less than two weeks away, that did not augur well. However, Lady Harriet Chalmers was a consummate matchmaker. And a hopeless romantic. By the time the soup course had been served at dinner that evening—with Rachel and the earl still exchanging barbs—she determined what she must do.
