Adelaide used the opportunity to study them. They were older than her by at least a decade, and she knew that they had known each other since they were out in society. They were fortunate in that respect, for she had done it alone.
It was lonely being out by herself. Friends were considered allies, at least until they had to compete for the same gentleman, but Adelaide had never had that. She did not even know why, for she did not think that there was anything wrong with her. Then again, given what happened to her, perhaps there was and she had never noticed it.
“Are you all right, Adelaide?” Beatrice asked.
“I am, yes,” Adelaide replied, realizing that her eyes were welling with tears. “My apologies, now is not the time for this behavior.”
“On the contrary,” Dorothy said. “Now is the perfect time to think about everything that is happening around you, and if that feeling is so powerful that it makes you cry, then so be it. It is better not to keep everything bottled up.”
“I hope so, for this is going to be so difficult.”
“At least it will be done and over with quickly, and then you can begin your life with your husband. None of us expected to fall in love with our dukes, yet we did. The same will happen to you, I know it.”
“Have you always been an idealist?” Adelaide snorted, a tear rolling down her cheek. “I wish I had your confidence, but His Grace has already told me that there won’t be affection in our marriage.”
The ladies looked at one another, wry smiles on their lips.
“They tend to say that,” Emma explained, “but it is not what transpires. Men are not half as heartless as they pretend to be, Adelaide. He will change his mind.”
“Especially when he sees your dress!” the seamstress trilled as she entered.
Adelaide flushed scarlet, knowing that people could not hear that her husband did not want her. Everything was precarious, and one wrong step was enough to send her back to the freezing north. Which she could not allow, even if it meant enduring a loveless marriage.
The ladies looked at the seamstress’s design. Adelaide could scarcely breathe. It was a beautiful gown, exactly what she had dreamed of. It must be expensive.
The thought made dread coil in her stomach.
Fortunately, the ladies refused to tell her the price.
After her measurements were taken, they left for Dorothy’s house. Adelaide watched as the other ladies entered as though it were their own home, sprawling over the furniture in the drawing room like cats and helping themselves to the books. They saw her staring and laughed.
“What’s mine is yours,” Dorothy assured her.
“But if your husband were to see us like this?—”
“My husband encourages it. He loves me, and therefore, he loves my friends, which is how I think of you now. Believe me, you may do as you please here.”
“Even if he did mind, he is not here,” Cecilia added. “Wednesdays are ours, and he takes the children away for the day.”
“We must have spent two hundred Wednesdays like this now,” Dorothy said thoughtfully, pouring five glasses of brandy and handing them out. “Here is to two hundred more!”
“Two thousand, more like.” Emma chuckled. “I could spend every day thusly. Would you not agree, Adelaide?”
“I do not know. I have never known friendship like this, nor even half this much freedom. It must be the most wonderful thing.”
“It is, and you shall see that for yourself soon enough.”
“But he?—”
“Even if that is true,” Beatrice interrupted, “and he has no interest in getting to know you, that means he will do everything he can to avoid you, which means that you will have more freedom than any of us. It might not be what you wanted for yourself, but it is something. It is more than most ladies will have, in any case.”
Adelaide drank the amber liquid and shuddered, aware that her new friends might not be the best influence. She felt like a fool for being so miserable, for she would have a far worse life were it not for the Duke. Even so, a voice in the back of her head kept telling her that it was all a mistake.
“May I ask another question?”
“Of course.” Emma nodded.
“Did any of you want this? Before your wedding day, I mean.”
