Page 62 of Yours Truly, the Duke
“Should I take that as a compliment or a complaint?” Fredericka asked, moving away from the secretary and walking to the center of the room to meet her.
“You choose,” Jane answered peevishly before fixing the smile on her face once again. “Remember when we were younger? You used to always say I never let you choose what we played, where we could take a walk, orwhat we should do when the house went quiet and dark after the servants retired for the evening. You always accused me of letting Angela decide everything.” She flicked her head to the side and smiled. “It’s your turn.”
Fredericka remembered their shared childhood quite well and recalled not being included at all. Her sister and cousin’s favorite pastime had been to run and hide from Fredericka. The only time she felt truly welcomed to be with them was during thunder and lightning storms. They would always come running to her bed, giggling as they huddled under the covers.
“Would you like to sit down?” Fredericka asked, refusing to be baited.
“Not today. I’m too restless, and besides, I can’t stay long.” She glanced around the room again. “I have plans I couldn’t possibly change, but yes, of course, another day I’d be delighted to have tea with the Duchess of Wyatthaven.” She offered another of her practiced smiles that always looked so sincere. “You know how it distresses me when you treat me as if we’re not family, so I do appreciate that you want me to visit.”
Her cousin was an expert at playing the victim. “It’s never my intention to distress you, Jane.”
“Nevertheless, it’s true. You must have left Paddleton right after I did.”
“Probably,” she answered cagily, not wanting Jane to guess she was the reason for Fredericka’s mad dash to London.
“When we talked, you never mentioned you were coming here. By the saints, Fredericka, wouldn’t that have been the polite thing to do?”
“It didn’t come up in our conversation. We had other things to discuss and your time was short.”
“Don’t make this my fault,” her cousin griped withease. “How long does it take to say, ‘I’m coming to London’? Have you noticed that I’m always finding out what you are doing from other people?”
“But I sent a note over to you and to Kent as well the day after I arrived.”
“I didn’t see it. I’ve been down with a headache again. You know they sometimes plague me for a week. I didn’t receive callers or open any notes. If Nelson hadn’t returned from his journey late last night, I still wouldn’t know you’d returned. You simply have no idea how hurt I was to hear you were in London. When I didn’t answer, you should have checked into why. After our last conversation, you promised you would keep me informed.”
“I don’t know what more I could have done, Jane,” she answered in a level voice, wanting to get the visit over with. “Since you don’t have long, I’ll get the children now so you can see them, if only for a minute or two.”
“Not today.” She fiddled with the brim of her bonnet. “I’m not up to a visit with them. I left a basket of tarts with the butler.”
Fredericka nodded. “That will please them. They’re with Miss Litchfield having their lessons intheirclassroom. The duke arranged for them to have all new supplies.”
Jane’s brows rose and her eyes narrowed shrewdly. “Really? Does that mean you are staying in London?”
“For now,” was all Fredericka would commit to. “That’s what husbands and wives do, is it not? Live together.”
“Yes, it’s just that it surprises me. You have always been adamantly against leaving Paddleton and disrupting the children’s lives for anything.”
On that, Jane was right, but desperate situationscalled for desperate measures to be taken. “True, but there were some things we needed to take care of here. A new carriage, clothing, and embroidery thread,” Fredericka replied, thinking quickly.
“Yes, the clothing I understand. You do need to, to…” She paused as she looked up and down Fredericka’s simple gown with a discerning eye. “Well, needless to say that a change of fashion from your country clothing would be appropriate now that you are a duchess and in London too. You simply must get rid of your old dresses. There are plenty of shelters for women who will take them. I know how you hate to waste anything.”
“Yes, of course, I’ll donate them.”
“Mrs. Parashu is garnering much attention for her designs this Season. She might be persuaded to help you.”
Fredericka wished she’d never mentioned clothing to Jane. It appeared she was actually trying to be helpful. “Thank you for your approval of her. She sent sketches of designs to Paddleton after my marriage. We selected fabrics yesterday.”
Jane smiled sweetly again. “That’s delightful. And I must say you do seem rather chipper for someone in your position.”
There was something about her cousin’s tone that caused Fredericka’s stomach to jump again. “Do you mean my position as the wife of a duke?”
“No, no, my dear.” Jane shook her head, mumbled a husky laugh, and slid her fashionable reticule off her wrist and yanked open the drawstring closure. Digging her hand inside, she pulled out several sheets of folded newsprint. “Perhaps you haven’t seen them since you’ve been so busy picking out fabrics and such.”
Fredericka’s heart felt as if it sank to the bottoms ofher shoes. The scandal sheets, gossip columns, and Society pages. It appeared Jane had a copy of all of them.
Distaste grew inside Fredericka. She was glad she’d stopped reading the pages. After marrying Wyatt, she’d found they weren’t good for anything except to put her in an excitable state she’d rather not have to deal with. Jane, the children, and the duke were all she could possibly handle.
It was best to feign ignorance. “What are they?”
