“I assure you, I am not inquiring,” she hastens to add. “I merely thought to share some knowledge most high-born mothers forget to pass on to their daughters.”
I gaze back, still holding myself stiffly, but willing to listen.
She regards me with somber green eyes. “All men, though they might appear quite different, they are the same in one way—you are the beauty, which meansyouhave the power, Duchess, no matter what he would have you believe.”
I cannot help but be moved by her words and loosen the slightest bit. “I… I do not know. He does not seem to… feel that way.”
The princess shocks me by throwing her head back and laughing.
It is such a beautiful sound, like the tinkling of an overeager, merry bell, that rather than feel offended as I ought to, I find the corners of my lips turning upward.
“Forgive me, Duchess, I do not wish to offend you further. But… if you will permit me to say so, if he has told you that, then he is a liar. Andnota very good one.” Her gaze goes to her friend who, though she still stands, has stopped wringing her hands and is smiling. “Doassure Her Grace, Belinda.”
Before I can insist that I do not wish to listen to their flattery, Belinda is nodding and her earnest words wash over me.
“Forgive me for speaking so boldly, but anyone in the room can see it. That was what I was just about to remark on to Her Highness…” The lady at least has the decency to blush. “It seems odd—quite unbelievable, actually—that the whisperscouldbe true, given how His Grace looks at you.”
I weigh their words carefully for several minutes before I decide how I wish to respond. “If such a thingweretrue… if, say, His Grace were waiting for me to declare my love before…” My throat tightens before I can find the rest of the words. It is such a terrible thing to say aloud.
The princess seizes my hand with a fierceness that surprises me. “You must not allow him to govern you in this matter. It is clear he desires you, Duchess. Do not play his games, make him playyours.”
Before I can find my voice, Belinda adds, “You must never allow him to know it, of course, but if you play your cards very carefully, you can win without his ever being the wiser. This is how you have a successful marriage.”
I startle. “You… you are married?”
Her expression turns somber and she gives a short nod. Clearly, it is not a happy union, and my earlier ire softens. She is tall and has an air of melancholy even her beautiful dress cannot hide. And, it would seem, she has a game of her own to endure.
“Dosay you forgive us,” Princess Amelia pleads. “And we shan’t speak of this conversation—nor any other we have overheard.”
I look from the two of them. Both beautiful women in their own right, though they could not look more different. Belinda’s hair is a mass of blonde curls, and she is tall and even her corset struggles to give her curves. Yet, for all their regal bearing, they clearly are not too proud to apologize.
“Yes, of course.”
“Oh, wonderful!” The princess claps her hands in an unexpected show of delight.
“You are most gracious, Duchess,” Belinda says, but before I can answer her the princess
throws her arms around me and squeezes me until I am unsure whether she or my corset pulls me tighter.
“Splendid!”
She releases me at last, and it is splendid indeed.
“We shall be the closest of friends, I just know it! Youmustcome to the palace soon for tea. Perhaps your dilemma with the duke will be resolved by then.”
I am quite taken aback by such exuberance, but when I look to Belinda, she seems unsurprised. I face the princess and clear my throat. “Yes, Your Highness. That would be lovely.”
“Oh, youmustcall me Amelia, at least when it is just us!” she says, her smile bright.
Fearing she might enclose me in another embrace, I hasten to agree. “Of course. Thank you, Amelia. I must return to my husband.”
“Yes.” Her smile fairly twinkles. “You must. And do not forget what I told you.”
“I shall not,” I promise, and I have never meant anything more.
Chapter Nine
Duke Gregor
