Page 69 of Her Bear of a Duke

"As for me, my father has all but given in," Lady Cecilia grinned. "He has at last accepted that I am destined to be a bluestocking spinster collecting dust. I rather like it that way."

"Are you not afraid that he will send you to the country?" Dorothy asked. "He has threatened to do so before."

"And yet, I remain with him. It is an empty threat, I assure you. Even if it were not, I believe I would quite like the country. I could be a governess, and truly do something good rather than simpering for a husband that I cannot stand. That is not meant as a comment to you, of course."

Morgan wondered whether or not he should have taken offence, but Dorothy laughed and so he assumed there was no need to. Lady Cecilia was biting, but Dorothy had assured him that there was no real harm in her. He hoped that was the case, for he wished to at least forge friendships with her friends. He could see how important they were to her, and so even if they disliked him he would do all that he could.

"You must not pay her any heed," Lady Beatrice explained. "She is the most determined of us all not to marry, which means that when she does it shall be all the more entertaining."

"That is assuming that I shall change my mind, which will not happen."

"I thought that, once," Morgan replied, and all three ladies looked at him.

"What do you mean?" Dorothy asked. "I thought that you always knew it was your duty."

"I did, but that did not mean I was going to find a wife. I decided that I had no other choice when I saw the path that my brother was going to follow, but when I was younger I thought I would remain a bachelor, traveling the world and researching exotic plants."

"I had the same hopes for myself as a girl, though it was far less attainable for myself."

"Well, we could still do that," he suggested, and Dorothy looked at him with curiosity. "You and I never truly had a honeymoon. There is nothing stopping us from doing so."

"What about Catherine?"

"She can stay with Mrs. Herrington. It is what was done before we were married."

"But it is an awfully long time for her to be left alone. Perhaps it might wait until she is older? If we leave it long enough, she might even be able to join us?"

He loved how selfless she was. He would have said as much if they were alone, but he did not wish to say it in front of her friends for fear of seeming disingenuous.

He had never thought about taking Catherine outside of the home, given her condition but also the circumstances surrounding her birth. He liked that Dorothy wanted to take her with them, but that would have to wait a long time. In any case, it was a discussion that they would have when they were alone.

He saw that Lady Cecilia, however, was looking at him approvingly now. He had done something that had pleased her, and though that had not been his sole intention he was pleased that he had done so.

Suddenly, the door flew open once more, and Lady Annabelle came bursting into the room in tears.

"What is it, Lady Annabelle?" Dorothy asked.

"Do not come near me," she snarled. "Not after what your supposed friend said to me."

Morgan looked at Dorothy quizzically, but she seemed just as uncertain as he was.

"Lady Emma," she continued, "mocked my sister."

CHAPTER 25

Dorothy did not know what to say.

Lady Annabelle had made her accusation, but nobody knew what to do in response other than look at one another. Dorothy knew, as well as Cecilia and Beatrice, that their friend would never say something hurtful to anyone, let alone mock one's sister. Emma cared far too greatly for her own sister to ever think of doing such a thing.

But Morgan did not know her friends, and all that he had seen of them was their pointed remarks in his direction. He knew that they would do anything for her, and he also knew that Lady Annabelle made her feel ill at ease. If he believed Lady Annabelle, she could not say that she blamed him.

"What precisely did she say?" Morgan asked at last.

"It was awful. She said that she was pleased that Elizabeth had died, because it was one less Blackwood to think about. She alsosaid that my family deserved what happened to us, as we are all cut from the same cloth, and–"

"That is nonsense," Lady Cecilia interrupted, furious. "Emma would never say such things."

"She did, and I am aware that when one is with child they can say things that they do not mean, but that was beyond the pale."

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