Page 2 of Her Bear of a Duke

"It isn't as though you liked to be noticed. Come now, you know as well as I do that you are an interesting young lady."

Dorothy shook her head. It had always been her friends that were interesting. Beatrice had a passion for baking, Cecilia was fierce and outspoken, and Emma had always been the most loyal person Dorothy had ever known.

"There is nothing notable about me, aside from the putrid colors Eleanor insists I wear."

"I cannot believe that your parents allow her to do that. They have not seen her in years, now."

"Yes, well, under threat of her telling thetonwhere she was truly married, they do not have much of a choice. I wish I knew why she was so determined to do that to me."

"Perhaps it is so that you push against it. You should, by the way."

At last, Cecilia finished with the unfortunate young man and turned back to them, greeting Dorothy warmly.

"Oh, Dot, can you believe it?" she sighed wistfully. "You shall be a wife within the month."

"Do not pretend you are pleased with that," Dorothy replied, but she couldn't help but smile at how hard her friend was trying. "You are the first to say that marriage is the end of a lady's life."

"Perhaps, but I will admit that my way of thinking has changed since Emma became a duchess. She has such influence now, and so much power. Can you imagine how wonderful that must be?"

"I can imagine, and likely nothing more. If my parents have chosen my husband, they will have simply taken the first gentleman that offered, and with how I am it is likely that it will be some physician that they have deemed good enough."

"You do not know that," Beatrice assured her. "Your parents would never have allowed you to have a match that they did not think would benefit them, after all."

Dorothy had to laugh at that.

"Anyway," Cecilia continued, "have either of you heard who is in attendance tonight?"

The two of them looked at one another, much to their friend's disappointment.

"I was hoping you might somehow know more than me," she huffed. "All I have heard is that there is a reclusive duke that issupposed to attend tonight. The hosts, the Lowthers, had sent an invitation to all members of theton,including those that do not partake in these things, and they received a response from him. They refuse to say who he is, though, as it might have made him less inclined to come. It is believed that he is only attending because of the masks."

Dorothy raised her hand tentatively, toying with her own mask between her fingers. She suddenly felt unwell at the thought of people being around her and her not knowing who any of them were. She felt a sense of unease, as though she were being watched, and the hairs on the back of her neck rose.

"Surprise!" came a voice behind her, startling her greatly.

She turned sharply, only to instantly feel relief. It was none other than Emma and her husband Levi. Emma was wearing a rabbit mask, her husband a wolf.

"Oh!" she gasped. "Emma, what are you doing here? You are supposed to be resting."

All three ladies looked at their friend carefully. She was with child, and from what she had disclosed it had not been the easiest thing to handle. She had been quite unwell in the mornings, and had not been able to stand for long periods of time.

"I was feeling well today," she explained, "and though we had declined the invitation we thought we might try to enter regardless and we were fortunate that our hosts allowed us in."

"You say that as though they would have refused entry to a duke and duchess."

"Well, when you put it like that," she laughed warmly.

"I see my good friend there," Levi said suddenly, looking just beyond the group. "I shall not be long."

"Feel free to be," Emma replied firmly, and he squeezed her arm before leaving.

The Duke left to see his friend, one dressed as a lion. The three ladies then turned back to their own.

"Is everything all right?" Beatrice asked.

"Of course, but with all of the complications my husband has been a little too protective of me. He seems to think I am some sickly thing when I am the same as always."

"In many ways, yes," Cecilia said uncertainly, "but if you are unwell then you must not push yourself too far. It is not good for you."

---