Page 30 of The Duke's Daring Bride

“Cunny!” the bird announced again.

Olivia was on the verge of laughter again. “I’m not destitute,” she announced, then called louder for Amanda, whose head was still in the wardrobe, “Well, I’m not completely destitute!”

Just mostly.

“Shhh.” Amelia patted her arm. “We shall not judge you.”

“When is the wedding?” her sister asked.

“I still have my wardrobe from—” From better days. “When I was in school,” Olivia finished weakly, the conversation getting away from her. She knew even her best clothing was nothing compared to what the maid had filched from the sisters’ rooms.

“Yes, but—and I am not saying this to be snobbish, dear, just practical—surely your wardrobe is not anywhere near as impressive as a duke’s sister’s would be?”

Olivia kept her lips pressed together in response to Amelia’s question. Not only was the girl correct—almost embarrassingly so—if Olivia did become a duchess, she would have no need for the few out-of-date gowns hanging in her office. She didn’t even have a real apartment!

Amanda sighed. “They are her things, Amelia. Perhaps we could have one of the footmen drive us across town to help her pack?”

“Which footman?” Amelia brightened. “Could Rocky drive us?”

Rocky had been the name of the delightfully dense—and remarkably attractive—footman who’d spoken to Olivia before she’d burst in on the duke. She hadn’t had to guess; the man had actually introduced himself, which had seemed a faux-pas. “Does he know how to drive?”

Both sisters stared at her for a moment, then burst into laughter. “He has fluff in his head, that is for certain,” Amanda gasped, “but have you seen him bend over?”

Olivia couldn’t say that she had, no.

“Oh, you would remember,” Amelia assured her. “Just delightful.”

His…his arse was that nice, was it?

“We cannot go across town by ourselves, and we do need the help of a footman—"

“Invite the footman!” squawked Hamish. “Invite the cook!”

The three young women froze and stared wide-eyed at the bird.

“Invite them to what exactly, do you think?” Olivia whispered, although she was beginning to guess a bit at their grandfather’s activities.

Amanda shook her head. “Who cares? Are we going across town? I want to see Oliva’s lodgings and help her pack up.”

She didn’t technically have lodgings any longer, and certainly didn’t want the embarrassment of explaining that to these girls. “I’m not packing—”

Olivia bit her lip. Actually, was she?

Was she going to marry the Duke?

“She is right, Olivia dear.” When Amelia linked her arm through Olivia’s, the cockatoo fluttered over to land on her shoulder. “Come along, and I will show you my urchins on the way. Do you like sea cucumbers? They can be quite adorable, in their own way.”

“No, they cannot.” Amanda took up position on Olivia’s other side. “They look like giant turds.”

Her sister gasped, even as they stepped into the corridor. “You cannot say such things!”

“Why not? Turd is in the Bible. Third Philippians, eight, in the original Old English. The King James version uses dung. Not the same power at all.”

As Amelia snorted, Olivia latched onto the last thing Amanda said. “So your family is Anglican?”

“I am studying the Bible for my entry exam into the nunnery.”

“There was not an entry exam,” whispered Amelia on Olivia’s other side, as they reached the large stairway. “We just told her that to keep her busy for a few years.”

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