Face flushing, I extended one. I felt that I should die of mortification, knowing that he had ample glance at my ankle in the perusal.

“Well?” Uncle Toby asked.

“They mean,” Snowe said thoughtfully, as though trying to decide. “They mean love.”

Oh my. That was rather forward.

Love?

Uncle Toby looked amused. “I am not surprised, Izzy. It seems the sort of notion that would pass as fashion for you young ladies.”

“I must disagree, sir,” I said, “for I never felt that young ladies were much concerned with love but with making a good match. The two are seldom the same, in my personal estimation.” David’s marriage to Catherine had taught me that.

“How wise you are, Miss Goodrich,” Snowe said. “A lady who settles for love generally settles beneath herself. You, I am certain, are too clever to claim less than a marriage that is… what did you call it? A good match?”

I could not tell if he was jesting at my expense, but I suspected as much.

“Isabella can have a wonderful life without love or marriage.”

“Uncle Toby,” I murmured. He seemed determined to defend my honor.

“Really?” Snowe gave me his full attention. “And why are you above both love and marriage?”

“But I do not think myself so,” I said. How on earth was I to repair this conversation? My dear, it was beyond repair. It was in dire need of termination. I had heard that a lady’s swoon could bring an entire room to a standstill. Dare I attempt it? Yes, I must. One, two…

“Perhaps our Lord has called Isabella to a different life,” Uncle Toby said. “I am certain that a man of God such as yourself, Snowe, can well understand how the Almighty sometimes sets the feet of his children on different paths from others.”

“Indeed I can. No doubt God will reveal that path to you in his good time, Miss Goodrich.”

Bewildered by the conversation’s turn, I was nonetheless pleased. Phineas Snowe had uttered what I believed were his first sensible words all evening. “I await his command,” I said.