Page 2 of His Duchess' Wicked List

The gentlemen looked stunned, blinking rapidly.

“It… It was just a casual remark,” the gentleman stammered. “I think I asked something about taking the air… not the weather itself…”

Augusta smiled. “You appear confused. Which is it?”

The gentleman shrugged helplessly.

Maddie suppressed a giggle. If it wasn’t so amusing watching Augusta in battle, she might even feel sorry for him.

“We should go,” the other gentleman said quickly, bowing his head. “Ladies!”

Maddie and Selina burst out laughing, gripping each other, as soon as the gentlemen were out of earshot. She had never seen such a hasty exit.

“There,” Augusta quipped in a pleased voice, rubbing her gloved hands together as if she had just completed a satisfying task. “They have retreated. Carry on, girls.”

Selina linked arms with Maddie, and they kept walking. Augusta dropped back behind them again.

“Thank you, Sister!” Maddie called gaily.

Augusta gave a dismissive wave, before opening her scandalous book of poetry once more. Within a minute, she was entirely absorbed.

It is a fine thing to have a progressive bluestocking for a sister.Even if it gives Mama an attack of the vapors and bewilders Papa.

“Now,” Selina said, her blue eyes twinkling, “back to the list!” She opened the book, retrieving the list, her mouth a small red moue as she studied it. “Oh, Maddie. It ispurescandal!”

Maddie blushed again but looked at her friend defiantly. “I have no choice, Selina. This is the only chance I will get to have any adventure before marriage. Mama is not backing down this time.”

Selina frowned. “She intends to marry you off if you do not find a suitor of your own?”

“Exactly so.” Maddie sighed heavily. “I must marry someone—anyone—by the end of the Season. I am afraid she has run out of patience with me.”

“It is not so very surprising.” Selina glanced back at Augusta. “She does not want you turning out like your sister, after all, who would not consider any gentleman if her life depended on it.”

Maddie’s heart flipped. “There are reasons Augusta is the way she is,” she said in a hesitant voice. “Do not judge her tooharshly, Selina. Besides, I admire her beliefs enormously. She is not afraid to challenge gentlemen and the status quo and believes that women should be equal to men. She fervently believes there is the possibility of a more equitable society, if only we challenge the norm.”

She glanced back at her sister as well.

Augusta was very lovely, with silky golden hair and bright green eyes. She had definitely had her share of admirers over the years, all of which she had spurned. She was five-and-twenty now, and everyone knew a lady was over the hill at that age. The prospects had dried up. And Augusta professed to be happy about it. She was the only lady that Maddie had ever known who was unmarried by choice.

Augusta was proud to be a spinster and wasn’t afraid to express it. Her singular opinions about the matrimonial state, and the rights of women in general, were hard for their parents to digest. The Marquess and Marchioness of Ollerton were very traditional, conventional people. Maddie thought they were probably taken aback that a hellion such as Augusta had landed in their midst. Rather like a family of sparrows being forced to raise an eagle.

“Do not mistake me, Maddie,” Selina continued, raising her eyebrows. “I admire Augusta, too, even though my dear mama thinks her shocking, and is always warning me that I must never become a bluestocking like her.” She smiled impishly, lowering her voice. “But I am not afraid to confide in you that I thinkwomen should be men’s equals as well. Why should they have all the fun?”

Maddie laughed in delight, tightening her grip on her best friend’s arm. Dear Selina. They hadn’t been friends for such a long time—only since last Season—but they had established a rapport quickly and were now so close that not a day went by when they weren’t either calling on or writing to each other.

Maddie still recalled the day, very fondly, when she had first met Selina. They had both been attending a garden party on the grounds of some London mansion. Maddie had been so bored that she was almost in physical pain.

And then, out of the blue, she had noticed a tall, lean young lady with golden brown hair a slight distance away from the party, almost squatting as she peered into a box near a garden shed. To Maddie’s delight, the young lady had lifted a squirming black puppy, cradling it in her arms.

Maddie had snuck away to join her, of course. She loved animals, especially puppies. Soon, the two girls were chatting and laughing freely as they petted the litter of pups. And they had been inseparable ever since, at least when they were together in London.

“Theydefinitelyshould not have all the fun,” Maddie agreed in a fervent voice. “Why can I not go off on an adventure, rollicking around, just as a gentleman does? Why must our lives always be boring garden parties, tea, and cakes?”

“Indeed.” Selina nodded, rolling her eyes. “It is insufferable! And my dear mama has been even stricter with me than yours has been with you… on account of all that we have suffered.”

Maddie squeezed her friend’s arm. She understood the oblique reference. Selina’s family had been beset by scandal years ago and had apparently struggled to overcome it. Selina had told Maddie that her mother had delayed her coming out because of it… but that was about all she knew.

Maddie wasn’t sure of the exact details, as she had been very young when it happened, and no one would have talked about such things to a young lady, anyway. Selina never mentioned it, even in passing, except with vague references about the family’s past suffering.

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