Katherine pursed her lips. Her aunt was not wrong. That didn’t alleviate the tension in her chest, of course.
“Fine,” she managed before she kissed Bethany’s cheek. “I will come with a full report as soon as I am able.”
Her aunt said her farewells and headed toward her carriage, leaving Katherine to take a deep breath and return to the parlor. She forced a smile to her face before she entered. “My aunt gives her most sincere apologies for the haste of her departure.”
The duchess was standing at the window still and turned with a bright smile. “I was sorry to see her go, but I do admit I am happy to be alone with you, my lady.”
Katherine worried her lip. “For any particular reason, Your Grace?”
For a moment the duchess hesitated, but then she shook her head. “I simply wish to know you better.”
“Well, tea is the way to do that, isn’t it?” Katherine asked, motioning to the settee. As the duchess took her place, Katherine noticed something she hadn’t at the party a few nights before. There was a little swell to the duchess’s belly. One she placed her hand upon as she settled in. “I did not say it before—many felicitations on your impending motherhood, Your Grace.”
“Oh, Isabel, please,” the duchess said with a wide smile. “We are going to be friends. I feel that in my bones. None of us in our little group stand much on circumstance when we aren’t in public.”
“Isabel,” Katherine said, handing over her cup. “Then I am Katherine.”
“And thank you for the congratulations. The duke and I are very happy. We are married so recently, you know. I could not have asked for a happier start to our union. I always longed to be a mother, and seeing all my friends begin to have children has made the anticipation all the sweeter.”
There was no mistaking Isabel’s true pleasure and Katherine found herself smiling, though the topic was not a particularly happy one for herself. “I can imagine.”
“You and the earl never had children, did you?” Isabel asked.
Katherine flinched as her mind filled with images that were only painful. Images of denial and recrimination. She shook them away. “We were not so blessed,” she said softly.
Isabel tilted her head, and for a moment Katherine thought the duchess could see through her a little. An uncomfortable thing, for someone of such a brief acquaintance to penetrate the shell she put up to protect herself. Especially since she still had no idea as to this woman’s motives when it came to her.
“May I be honest with you?” Katherine asked.
Isabel nodded. “I would ask nothing less. Please.”
“I am a little confused as to why you and your friends have taken such an interest in me,” she said, trying not to fold her arms like a shield in front of herself. “My reputation as I return to Society is sullied to say the least. I would think such exalted women would want nothing to do with me.”
Isabel was quiet for a moment. “You worry that perhaps our motives are not…true?”
Katherine’s lips parted in surprise. “Well,thatis direct.”
“We are being so, yes?” Isabel shifted. “My dear, if you give our little band of friends a chance, I think you’ll determine this for yourself, but there is not a one of us who would ever cruelly enter a friendship. And any one of my dear duchesses would gladly explain their own relationship with scandal.”
Katherine blinked. She had almost forgotten that several of the duchesses had been whispered about over the years. It was difficult to hold that in mind when they seemed so certain, so happy, when the group of them was so powerful.
Isabel continued, “Charlotte spoke highly of you and that is a recommendation, indeed. If we have a motive, it is only to use whatever status we’ve obtained to help make your return to Society a little easier if we can.”
Katherine sat for a moment, cheeks burning. She could not look at this woman, not in the eye, after such a direct addressment of the matter. Nor could she parse out exactly how she felt about it. There was embarrassment that these ladies felt she had to be saved, but also an intense feeling of gratitude that they would offer that salvation without any apparent desire for something in return.
“If you did, I could not say I wasn’t grateful,” she finally managed.
Isabel reached out and caught one of her hands, squeezing gently before she said, “I’ve been putting off a duty I do not relish, but I think considering this subject, I cannot do so any longer. I was actually happy your aunt left us, for I came here on a mission.”
Katherine glanced up at her at last and saw her companion’s face tense with grim determination. “Oh dear. This does not sound good.”
“It isn’t. And it must be said privately.”
“I am afraid I have no idea what you could be referring to,” Katherine said. “We’ve only just met—I don’t know what you could be so serious about.”
“Yes, our friendship is young and now I must risk that in order to be frank. As I would hope a friend, old or new, would be toward me under the same circumstances.”
Katherine swallowed hard. “I suppose it is best if you just say it and have it done with.”
