Chapter 3

Finley sat pouring over his finances. He could hear his brother, Sanford, in his head, teasing him about working too hard, about not having any fun, but it was his responsibility. If he didn't take care of paying the wages and monitoring the income, then the whole house would fall apart. His brother wouldn't be teasing him then, if he suddenly lost his tidy sum of allowance to play with.

"Ooh Finley," he heard the voice from the hallway, knowing exactly who it was: Cynara. She glided happily into his study, Katherine—who now seemed to be her shadow—close behind.

"How did I know you would be in here?" she asked, a mischievous smile playing on her face.

"What is it now?" he asked, leaning back in his chair. He loved Cynara, he really did. She made Charles happy, which was the most important thing, but he had to admit that he had a soft spot for her as well. She was so unlike anyone he had ever met before, and was fun and interesting.

What he had trouble dealing with, though, was the effect she had on their little sister, the baby of the family. Ever since she was little, Katherine had seemed to take to the brothers' influence of troublemaking like a mouse takes to a pantry of cheese.

The brothers, in their younger years, had humored and even encouraged Katherine's riotous behavior, but Finley had had a change of heart ever since the passing of their father. He was responsible for Katherine now, and he wanted her to make a good match and have a happy life in society, but he feared that he would have trouble doing that if she insisted on acting more like the ragamuffin street child than the proper young lady she was.

And despite all her bravado and outward defiance, he knew that Katherine had a tender and easily bruised heart. Cynara, who was a spitfire core to core, Finley wasn't worried about. If some jealous young women her whispering rumors behind her back, or if she was snubbed from some tea party, Cynara would whole-heartedly laugh it off, if she even noticed or cared. But Katherine, Katherine, he could see her feelings getting hurt. She might admire Cynara and want to be like her, but Finley worried she might not be able to handle the consequences of her actions in the same way.

"Finley, we've decided, since we are such generous, kind-hearted individuals," Cynara brought him out of his reverie by perching herself on his desk, "To offer our expert advise to you, in your time of need."

"What are you talking about?" Finley said warily, knowing Cynara, whatever she was up to, wasn't going to be something he would enjoy.

"Finley," this time Katherine spoke, "We've decided to offer some advise in the area of ... pursuing a woman," Katherine tried to put delicately.

"And what do you know about pursuing a woman?" he asked Katherine, who in his mind, was too young to dealing with such matters.

Cynara scoffed, "We are women, give us some credit."

"I don't know what suddenly brought this on, nor do I want to. I'm perfectly fine pursuing women, if in fact that is what I want to do, and I don't need your help."

"Finley," Cynara said, leaning forward to put her hand on his shoulder, "I hate to be the one to break it to you, but yeah, you need our help."

"This is absurd, I'm not listening to a thing you are saying to me," Finley said, moving to stand up, but Katherine stopped him with a hand on his shoulder.

"Finley," she pleaded, "We only want to help you." Katherine was tempted to confront him with his love for Jane Withurby, but held back. Cynara had warned her that bringing up the other woman's name would only serve to aggravate Finley more, and it was best not to do so.

Finley looked at his sister, and rolled his eyes. "Fine," he said, sitting back down. "Just hurry up and get this over with."

"Oh goody," Cynara said, clapping her hands. "Okay," she started, turning to face Finley more directly. "Say you like someone, and your alone with her, on a walk or something and the conversation had lagged, what do you do?"

Finley shrugged.

"Okay, no," Cynara shook her head, "You could give her a compliment."

"Tell her something truthful," Katherine chimed in, "Not just any old thing. Tell her what you really like about her."

Cynara nodded her approval at Katherine, "That's good," she turned back to Finley, "Or you could bring up something you have in common, or the surroundings."

"But not the weather," came from Katherine.

"Oh, so true," Cynara agreed, shaking her head like bringing up the weather would be the worst possible thing Finley could do, "Everyone talks about the weather, and it is always so boring."

"You could also ask her something about herself," Katherine added, "Show that you're interested in her."

"You should try and get close to her and see how she responds," Cynara pulled from all the women's magazines she ever read, "If you walk close by her, does she come closer to you or does she pull away?"

"Try to make her laugh," Katherine said, "Women love to laugh, but don't be too overzealous about it, then you could turn into the annoying clown."

"Don't be too personal right away, but don't be too distant either, you don't want her to think that you just want to be friends."

"You should be thoughtful, too, see if she needs anything, or if she's cold."

"Don't come on too strong, don't let her think you like her, but just that you're open to the idea of liking her."

"And be charming, but not in the cheesy way."

"Alright alright," Finley said, holding up his hands, "I get it. Be funny, but not too funny, and charming but not too charming, and so on and so forth. Thank you for all your help ladies, but I really must get back to work.

Katherine and Cynara exchanged looks with each other, before they both left his study. Finley was actually surprised that they left so easily. He sat back down, looking over his papers, only to find that he could no longer concentrate. He was thinking about Jane, and wondering if she would agree with the things Katherine and Cynara had just told him.

Outside the study, the two women were discussing the next step in their plan. "Do you think he really got any of that?" Katherine asked, worried that if they did throw Finley and Jane together, Finley would blow it.

"Oh, I'm sure he'll be fine," Cynara said, waving her hand dismissively, but looking at Katherine's unsure face, she started to feel a bit doubtful.

"What are you two troublemakers up to?" Sanford asked, as he casually strolled past them.

Cynara got a bit of a gleam in her eye, and she glanced conspiratorially with Katherine.

"Sanford, what a lucky surprise," Cynara grinned.

"Oh no," Sanford said jokingly, although he was curious to know what she was up to. Things had gotten more exciting since Cynara had arrived, and Sanford didn't mind that at all. And it was good to have Katherine home to. He had missed her teasing and cavorting about.

"We were just talking to Finley," Cynara explained.

"Uh huh," Sanford said, crossing his arms.

"We've been trying to teach him how to talk to girls," Katherine said helpfully.

Sanford looked surprised for a moment, but then threw his head backward and laughed. "And he let you?" he asked with a disbelieving chuckle.

"Not without reservations," Cynara stated, "And we're still aren't sure if he is truly prepared."

"Prepared for what?"

"We're going to get him together with Jane Withurby, so that they can fall in love," Katherine explained.

Sanford raised his eyebrows. "Just because you teach him to flirt a little, then throw him in a room with Miss Withurby, doesn't mean that she's going to automatically fall in love with him and throw away Trahern."

"We know that," Katherine huffed, crossing her arms.

"Well, it's worth a shot. If we don't do something, Finley could be miserable for the rest of his life. Is that what you want?" Cynara asked.

"No," Sanford said, "But I also don't want him angry with me for the rest of his life for messing with him."

"Fine, don't help us," Cynara said, grabbing Katherine's arm and turning away, "But when Jane and Finley are together, you will get none of the credit."

"Hey, hey," Sanford stopped them, "I didn't say I wouldn't help you, only that it is highly unlikely that this little scheme will work. What do you want me to do anyway."

"Good," Cynara grinned at getting her way, which she almost always did, "You're the ladies' man, right?" Cynara asked, but continued before Sanford could answer, "You obviously know how to woo women, you just need to help Finley a little bit."