Page 58 of His Accidental Duchess

“Henry has made a mess, and perhaps you have some hand in it, yes. But he did not have to marry you. It was up to him to arrange the ceremony, secure the special license, and order the banns. He did all that, but he lost his courage at the very, very last moment. You are both to blame, I think, but Henry fled when you could not, and left you to face the music. Don’t feel too sorry for him.”

Anna bit her lip, and he hoped she was pondering his words. In the corner of the room, a grandfather clock began to chime, making her flinch.

Sighing, Theodore got to his feet.

“Not that I’m not enjoying this conversation,” he said heavily, “but do you intend on getting dressed before midnight? I would like to get to our hosts’ housebeforethe guests leave.”

Anna gasped. “Oh, heavens, the party!”

She bounced to her feet and sprinted out of the room, leaving the door swinging.

Rolling his eyes, Theodore turned back to the looking glass.

CHAPTER 16

“Why can’t I come?” Kitty asked, her lower lip sticking out.

Anna paused, a sudden stab of homesickness shooting through her chest. She’d heard this refrain from her own two sisters over and over again, during the Season, in their better years.

“Why can’t we come, Anna?”

“I’ll be ever so quiet, Anna, I promise.”

“I’m grown enough for a ball! Aren’t I, Mama?”

“You’re just a little too small, Kitty,” she responded, forcing herself to sit still while Esther coiled and pinned her hair on top of her head.

It was a much more elaborate style than Anna was generally comfortable with, but since her dress was such a remarkable, intricate affair, a simple knot would just look silly.

Kitty stood on her tiptoes. “I am not too small. I am quite grown. Aren’t I, Martha?”

Martha smiled indulgently. “A little while longer, Lady Katherine, and then Her Grace will take you to parties of your own. Won’t you, Your Grace?”

Anna bit back a smile. It reminded her painfully of Daphne, standing onhertiptoes and informing her mother and sister thatshewas grown up. Children were the same everywhere, it seemed.

“I certainly will,” Anna said, meeting Kitty’s gaze through the mirror. “We’ll throw the best parties right here, and you’ll be at the center of it all.”

Kitty smiled a little at that. “Will I wear a dress like you and have my hair curled? You look like a princess.”

That gave Anna a little bit of a jolt. She glanced at her reflection and was a little shocked at the unfamiliar beautiful woman staring back at her.

“Of course, your hair will be curled,” she answered absently.

There came running feet outside, and a footman tapped on the door.

“His Grace wants to know when Her Grace will be down,” the man said, sounding breathless. “The carriage is waiting.”

Anna winced. “Tell him I’ll be down shortly.”

This was probably not the answer the Duke had hoped to get, but he was going to have to do with it.

Martha at last succeeded in marshaling Kitty out of the room, although Kitty was allowed to give Anna a kiss on the cheek before she retired to bed.

With the little girl gone, Anna finally gave herself a good, long, thorough look in the mirror.

She looked, in a word,fabulous.

The dress was divine—mostly silver, with gold threads running through it, cut in the latest style that managed to give Anna quite a remarkable bosom and a wasp-thin waist. The skirt was brocaded, wide and heavy and stiff, and entirely impractical for anything beyond floating through a ballroom or sitting demurely on a couch.

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