Love Engineered by Jenna Dawlish

generation. She had been brought up almost as though she were a boy. Her indulgences had been learning those things that boys were taught: maths, history, business. But her real passion was inventions and engineering.
    She did have female friends, but she found them somewhat dull. Their parents didn't like their daughters to learn the things Louise did, and consequently through design and desire, most of her childhood friends were boys.
    No, she regretted nothing. Finally now, she had met Jane, a young woman closer to her own age whom she felt drawn to, despite their different natures and positions. She resolved to see Jane again the next day, and knew it was unlikely that she would see Charles Lucas much, if at all. His work must keep him away from home at those times she was most likely to visit.
    The next morning, Louise called on Jane and they made their way to the drapers.
    “Your headache didn't last long I trust?” Jane's eyes searched her face.
    “No. By the afternoon it had cleared, thankfully.” Louise looked away, and hoped her countenance didn't betray her.
    “I hope it wasn't caused by dining with us the night before.”
    “No, of course not!”
    Jane lowered her head. “I thought I had offended you.”
    Louise stopped walking and took hold of her hand. “No! How could you ever offend anyone?”
    They continued on, and arriving at the drapers, they entered to find it almost empty. Louise had never visited this particular shop before, it being not in the most fashionable part of town. But the assistant could clearly tell quality customers when he saw them and treated them with the utmost distinction and attention. They were shown an array of fabrics but both women admired the new pink silk imported from India a few days earlier.
    “The colour suits you much better than me.” Louise held the soft material up to Jane's face. They both turned to the small mirror on the counter.
    “I do like it,” Jane said. “But your dark hair matches it well too. I'm sure there are several shades of yellow and blue that I would love to wear but make me look washed out and sickly.”
    Louise smiled back at Jane's reflection. “If we all looked the same, it would be very boring.”
    They made their way home to the Lucas house to have afternoon tea and were interrupted by the unexpected arrival of Edward and Charles. Louise was secretly pleased and tried not to blush as they paid their respects to her.
    “I thought you were busy today?” Jane asked them both in a petulant tone.
    “We have a number of business matters to attend to here,” Charles said. “We can't stay for long.”
    Edward interrupted, “But not so pressing that we can't stay for some tea.”
    It was Edward who commandeered Louise's attention at first, whilst Charles went to his study, returning after fifteen minutes with a bundle of papers and, Louise noticed ink stains on his hand.
    “Miss Thomas has been telling me about her estate in Devon,” Edward said to his brother. “It seems she has to return there very soon due to estate matters.”
    “Indeed,” Charles said. “What sort of business matters do you have to deal with?”
    She gave a small shrug of her shoulders. “All sorts of things. Many of the tenants request my help in overseeing repairs and helping them deal with problems, such as floods or the disposal of diseased animals. Sometimes they need advice on farming methods, and several of them are trying new ways of improving their yields. The estate has a large amount of farming machinery that the tenants borrow. It's quite interesting, although I think you would probably think it somewhat primitive compared with the projects you undertake.”
    She assessed his response to what she told him. He seemed interested enough, so she continued. “Unfortunately, on the odd occasion I have to intervene when they have disputes.”
    “Really? Disputes?” He sat down near her. “What was the last dispute you had to deal with?” It was a