Page 65 of The Icy Duke Claims a Bride

“I won’t let anyone else in there,” Catherine promised. “Give my love to the Dowager Duchess, and my apologies if I’ve made you late already.”

After returning for one more kiss, Hugh was gone, and Catherine sat up to eat her breakfast.

“Sit!”

All three dogs sat on the top lawn at Catherine’s command, Castor and Pollux somehow still wagging their tails as they did so.

“Now, you keep Lucretia with you, Your Grace, so you can see that the other two aren’t just copying,” Bellchurch advised, two sticks in his hand.

Catherine nodded and laid a restraining hand on Lucretia’s silky head. The red Irish Setter looked up at her with affectionate brown eyes and a a human-like grin.

“Fetch!” Catherine ordered as Bellchurch threw the sticks.

Castor and Pollux bounded off in pursuit while Lucretia sat patiently, nuzzling Catherine’s hand until the two other dogs returned.

“You are all good dogs,” Catherine praised, patting their heads while the three animals all looked expectantly at her, their new collars bearing their names and the crest of the Duke of Redbridge. “Oh, I see. Now you all want to play?” She laughed.

Bellchurch shrugged. “Big dogs like these do need a lot of exercise, Your Grace.”

“I know, Bellchurch. Don’t worry. You can get back to your work, and I’ll play with them out here for a while. I can see they’re all well-trained.”

“Good as gold,” Bellchurch confirmed. “Lucretia was perfect already, and the other two only needed to be reminded of the rules. I don’t think you’ll have any problems, Your Grace. Cook will have food set out at the kitchen door whenever you instruct. I’d advise you not to feed them in the dining room like Sir Anthony, or they’ll forget they’re dogs again.”

“I agree.” Catherine smiled, throwing the two sticks one after the other. “Lucretia, go and find a stick for yourself, too.”

The Irish Setter bounded off towards the trees as Castor and Pollux went in pursuit of the sticks that were already thrown.

“She is a clever dog, that one,” Bellchurch commented. “Well, let me know if you need anything else, Your Grace.”

“I will. Thank you, Bellchurch.”

The gamekeeper touched his cap and then walked away.

Catherine felt proud of Lucretia, especially when she came back with a good-sized branch a minute later and dropped it at her feet.

“Good girl!”

All in all, it was a perfect morning.

After playing with sticks and balls in the gardens until luncheon, Catherine changed her shoes after eating and took the three dogs out for a long walk around the estate in the sunshine, singing to herself once they were some distance from the house.

This wonderful place was her home, these marvelous dogs were her companions, and, tonight, her loving husband would return to their bed and bring her again to the peaks of ecstasy. Life could not be better.

Unless, of course, they had a child—an heir to the duchy. This idea, which had previously unnerved and confused her, now made her quiver inside with excitement. There was something different about conceiving a child in love than conceiving one in duty, and the thought of being a mother to Hugh’s child melted her heart.

It had only been two months since they married, and perhaps that was too soon to ascertain, but when she counted back, Catherine had not bled since at least a week before the wedding. She wondered if she ought to consult a physician, but there had been so many changes in her life that her body might only be confused.

She did not wish to waste anyone’s time. And knowing that Hugh had wanted a child from the start, she did not want to give him false hope. Part of her assumed that she could not have conceived a child because she felt so very well. Another part of her thought of the many times she and Hugh had coupled and assumed it was almost inevitable that she had.

It was all so confusing…

By the time Catherine returned to the house around four o’clock, she had decided that it was best not to worry and to simply let nature take its course. If she were expecting a child, it would become apparent to everyone soon enough.

“Your tea and cake, Your Grace,” Elsie said rather self-consciously as she entered the conservatory, where Catherine was relaxing with the dogs.

Catherine hoped that Mrs. Kaye had not been too hard on the maid following the interruption in the library. “Thank you, Elsie,” she replied as kindly as she could, and then realized that the young woman had frozen a few steps into the room.

Castor and Pollux were suddenly on high alert and growling at her.

---