One or two...

After I mentioned that from my earlier encounter with him, I believed that Mr. Holden had his eye on Ms. Rebecca Mevan, who is taken up with her servant, the Buress' and Pocszinskis began to identify what were the qualities he desired. Beyond being of proper class and breeding.

That resulted in a discussion concerning her character. Ms. Mevan was clever and resourceful. She had to be, given that she's managed to maintain her lifestyle without her father's influence. They believed that the woman Mr. Holden would court should be similar, however she must also have a good grasp of sense, since he was prone to making a fool of himself.

Secondly, they suspected that Ms. Mevan was outwardly domineering, as a woman in her position ought to be, but behind closed doors, was actually a quiet and demure lady, that would not question her husband's command. I declined to add what I knew about how true their suspicions were, but they continued on, and decided that whoever they found for Mr. Holden should be more subdued than confrontational. Or at the very least, submissive in a sense of being subtle. So subtle, that her requests would make him think he's made the decision, not that she's made it for him. Again, for the purposes of not letting him embarrass himself.

Thirdly, they confessed that they weren't confident if Mr. Holden had actually been with a woman before. Which I found odd, given where he lived. None of them could recall whether he had brought a lady back home with him, nor have they heard anything about him going home with a woman while they were out and about. So a woman with some experience and patience would be ideal for him. Even more so if she would look to them for guidance as to what he likes.

As they were talking, it became clear to me that they were more looking for an accomplice for themselves, rather than a wife for him. By the end of their match-making and conspiring against him, I had sobered up, and they had come to their conclusions.

Their first choice was Ms. Delilah Rivers, the Father O'Coner's Secretary. I recall that was the first time I had ever heard her name. But they had surmised that she had most of the qualities they were looking for, in addition to being firm enough to wrangle even the rowdiest of churchgoers into respectful silence when the pastor is speaking. That being said, she might not see things their way, and steer Mr. Holden in a direction not of their choosing.

Their other choice was Ms. Rose Baker, the baker's daughter, who, contrarily, had none of those qualities. Not to be mean, but from what they were saying, young Ms. Baker was the type of woman that needed almost constant supervision. She was capable enough to perform her duties without too much trouble, but beyond that, it has been said that she's the type to boil water by putting a flame into the water. Their hope was that Mr. Holden would be too busy keeping an eye on her, to not be able to pursue his own ambitions. However, that brought up the risk that they'd have to mind two adult children instead of just the one.