Page 52 of A Duchess Disciplined

They quacked wildly and waddled away, their wings spread wide. Catherine laughed as she bounded after them. Heat rushed to William’s face, fury coiling inside him.

With a bright laugh, Hester darted after his wife. The two ran after the ducks together, sending the fowl waddling away, alarmed quacks coming from their beaks. William inhaled sharply.

“Wait for me!” Hannah exclaimed, laughing.

His wife and sisters ran after the ducks with reckless abandon, chasing them around and around the pond. William’s nostrils flared, and he dug his nails into the palms of his hands. His patience was a quickly fraying thread as he watched his duchess flounder into the mud. The ducks fled from her, some taking flight. Their wings dully beat the air.

Catherine had done this just to vex him. William was certain of that. His pulse jumped, and his palm twitched. After what felt like an eternity, during which he was all too aware of how suddenly one of the tonmight appear, Catherine dropped her skirts and doubled over with the force of his laughter. His sisters grinned at one another.

“You should have joined us!” Catherine exclaimed, laughing as she looked at him.

William clenched his jaw. “This willnothappen again. You should be ashamed of behaving in this manner. It is entirely unbefitting of a duchess.”

Her laughter ceased. She straightened her spine and met his gaze evenly. He saw a challenge there:so what are you going to do about it?

Oh, Catherine hadno idea.

CHAPTER16

The carriage ride back to the estate had been silent and awkward. William’s disapproval was like a storm cloud, filling the entire carriage with a dark and foreboding sensation. It reminded Catherine of walking along the coast of Cornwall just before a storm, knowing it was coming from the coolness and the lightning that surged in the air.

“Go to your bedchambers!” William snapped, his stern gaze fixed on his sisters. “I want you to reflect on what you have done today. This will not happen again.”

Hannah and Hester fled without another word. Catherine’s blood boiled as she witnessed such masterful behavior. It had only been a little harmless game! Why did he behave as though they had murdered someone?

“There is no need to be this upset,” Catherine said evenly.

He gave her a sharp glare. “We will continue this conversation away from curious eyes and ears. I will not have the staff overhearing my correction of my wife.”

Catherine curled her fingers into the folds of her skirts as he beckoned for her to follow. He led her through the familiar corridors of the house until he arrived at his bedchamber. William shoved the door open and jerked his head, silently gesturing for her to enter.

She squared her shoulders, as she stepped into his bedchamber. It seemed as though they were going to have one of their marital arguments. She strongly suspected that most of their marriage was going to be a series of arguments. When William closed the door behind him, she whirled about to face him.

“Well?” she asked. “What is it that has you so vexed?”

“You,” he replied. “You chased after ducks, and worse, you convinced my sisters to chase them with you!”

Catherine arched an eyebrow. “And? It was a harmless game!”

“Harmless? I brought you here, so you could help my sisters grow into proper young ladies and someday help them procure respectable husbands! Instead, you are doing the exact opposite! You are teaching them to behave like—like?—”

“Likechildren?” Catherine interrupted. “They are just girls, and there is no harm in them chasing after ducks.”

“Someone might have seen you.”

“I did not see anyone.”

“That does not mean there was no one!” William snapped. “And someone might very well have heard you! My sisters might have been ruined today!”

“Ruined?” Catherine asked in disbelief. “You forget that I managed to marry, and I was much wilder than both of them combinedandat a much older age!”

“You only managed to marry because I made it so!”

He wasright. The realization struck Catherine as if it was a bolt of lightning. Her face fell, and a cold, creeping dread fell over her like a cloak. She wanted to argue with him, but that was difficult, for Catherine found that she could not truthfully deny his words. “I suppose you are right,” she murmured, her shoulders slumping.

William gazed at her with an unreadable expression. After a long moment, he sighed and raked a hand through his hair. “I suppose I cannot blame you,” he said. “Do not worry overly about the park. After all, I know that you do not vex me on purpose.”

Catherine sighed. “I cannot deny my own nature,” she murmured.

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