Page 63 of The Duchess Trap
“Ah, so you’re still in the taming stages,” Lady Densham said with a knowing nod. “That’s when it’s most thrilling.”
The dowager sighed. “You’ll give her the wrong impression. The only thrill my grandson has ever inspired is lust.”
Lady Harbury giggled. “Lust can be thrilling.”
“Agnes!” Lady Merrow scolded, swatting her friend’s arm with her fan. “Behave.”
Catherine tried, and failed, to hide her laughter behind her hand.
“So,” Lady Harbury said at last, lowering her fan to peer at Catherine with conspiratorial delight. “Tell us, Duchess…does the duke satisfy you?”
The world went silent.
Catherine froze mid-sip. The tea nearly sloshed from her cup. “I—beg your pardon?”
Lady Merrow gasped. “Agnes!”
Lady Densham fanned herself violently. “Really, my dear, you cannot simplyaska duchess such things!”
“Why ever not?” Lady Harbury demanded. “We were all brides once. And curiosity keeps one young.”
“Curiosity will get you barred from polite society,” the dowager said dryly. “Though I suspect that would delight you.”
Lady Harbury grinned, unabashed. “It would.”
Catherine was still red to her ears, utterly at a loss. “I I should think that is hardly a suitable topic for?—”
“Oh, nonsense,” Lady Harbury interrupted. “It’s the only topic worth speaking of. Love, passion, the marriage bed…it’s what keeps the world spinning.”
Lady Merrow groaned. “You are scandalous.”
“And you are envious.”
“I ambored,” Lady Merrow retorted. “And I’ve been married long enough to know that passion is for fools and poets.”
“Then God made me both,” Harbury said with a wink.
The women erupted in laughter again, the sound infectious. Catherine pressed her hands to her cheeks, mortified, and yet, against all reason, amused.
The dowager observed her keenly. “You may answer her, you know. Agnes thrives on embarrassment. Best to give her none.”
Catherine swallowed hard. “I—he?—”
Four expectant faces turned toward her.
She cleared her throat. “His Grace is… attentive.”
A chorus of delighted shrieks met this declaration.
“Attentive!” Lady Harbury crowed. “Oh, the delicacy of youth! I adore it.”
Lady Densham leaned forward eagerly. “And howattentive, exactly?”
Catherine very nearly dropped her teacup. “Lady Densham… I truly appreciate your interest, but I… I can’t…”
“Enough,” the dowager said sharply, though there was unmistakable amusement in her eyes. “You’ll frighten her off before I’ve a chance to show her the rose gardens.”
Catherine exhaled shakily, half laughing. “I doubt anything could frighten me more than this conversation.”
