Page 47 of A Duchess Disciplined

“How generous,” Catherine said. “You willconsiderit.”

“The tonwill be at the park,” Hannah said. “I always enjoy watching the ladies and seeing what their gowns look like. They are always so beautiful and refined.”

“Indeed, they are,” Catherine replied.

“And someday, I will be wearing such finery,” Hannah continued with a longing sigh. “You will ensure that I am properly attired when I come out into society, right, Your Grace?”

It took Catherine a heartbeat to realize that it wasshewho was being asked.

“I will,” she replied. “You shall be the most beautiful girls to ever enter society. You and Hester.”

Hester wrinkled her nose. “I do not know if I want to enter society,” she mused. “It sounds as though it is very tiring.”

“It can be,” Catherine said.

“You will come to enjoy it,” William said. “Her Grace will ensure that you are prepared to face the ton.”

“Yes,” Catherine said.

Hester’s smile wavered for just an instant, and Catherine felt as though she was looking at a younger version of herself. She had once been hesitant to join the ton, but Elias had indulged her. He had not been like William, who was cold and imposing.

Elias would probably have let Catherine never marry if she had really wanted that. Even when William had asked for her, Catherine was confident that her brother would have relented if she had just refused.

But she had not.

“It is not all bad,” Catherine said. “Sometimes, it can be enjoyable being with the ton. The balls are grand and often enjoyable. The music is beyond reproach! And you meet so many handsome gentlemen.”

That sounded almost like something Dorothy would say if she needed to comfort Catherine.

“We shall see,” Hester murmured. “I rather think that I am destined to become a bluestocking.”

“You are too young to know if you will be a bluestocking,” William replied. “You have many years ahead of you to mature and grow into a proper, young lady.”

Catherine never had. She wryly noted the irony of it all. William expected her to be the woman who could teach his sisters to become proper ladies of the ton, a feat which she had never accomplished herself. Oh, Catherine supposed that she knew in principle how to be a proper lady, but that did not mean she was capable of explaining it to someone else.

“I suppose so,” Hester said, her eyes flitting toward the window.

She sounded unhappy. Did William notice?

It was difficult to say, for when she looked at him, his face was unreadable. Maybe he regretted having come along with them and was already thinking of returning to his work.

“There are some men who favor bluestockings,” Catherine said. “I would not say that you need to be entirely one thing or the other. You know that as well as me, William.”

He fixed her with a stern glare, and Catherine’s lips twitched in amusement. William might be angry with her for the remark, and he might wish tocorrectit later. Catherine was still not entirely certain what that meant, but thus far, nothing that William had done to her had beenbad. Not even remotely. A shiver of delight traced down her spine in anticipation of something she could not know.

But she wanted to know.

“We shall see,” William replied. “I am sure that under your tutelage my sisters will become proper ladies. That does require some education.”

Hester bit her lip. “Maybe I can marry a man who enjoys nature as much as I do.”

“Is that something you favor greatly?”

Hester nodded. “I have always liked nature—plants and animals and the sunlight. The world is so beautiful, and it seems like a terrible pity to spend so much of our lives in ballrooms and corridors when we might be instead free beneath the sun and sky.”

Catherine softened. “I am sure that you will find someone who loves nature as much as you do. There are many scientifically-minded men among the ton, and I am certain there will be when you are ready for marriage, too.”

“And men who are interested in other things, right?” Hannah asked, her eyes wide with concern.

---