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He couldnot—should not—just ignore her. He realized that Catherine was right. William should not have reacted as angrily as he had, but he had been unable to control himself. Hannah was hissister.

A lump formed in his throat, and he forced another swallow of brandy down. He could not admit that Catherine was right, that her criticisms were valid. William’s only hope was to distract her in some way, so she would forget to argue the matter with him.

“I am not ignoring you,” he said, eyeing her sternly. “I am trying to decide how best to address your rather unwomanly show of defiance.”

Catherine lowered herself into the chair before him. “I see,” she said dryly.

“I might have been mistaken,” he said. “I think youdomisbehave on purpose. You behave improperly because you want to be punished.”

Her face reddened. She tossed her head back and finished her glass of brandy in a single gulp. “Or maybeyouwant me to be punished,” she said tartly. “That is why you mention the matter.”

“Haughty as always,” he said, sighing. “You will not win, Catherine. I am the master of this household, and all the protests you make will not change that.”

The young woman placed her empty glass on his desk. Her eyes were fierce. “We shall see about that.”

“So we shall,” William replied, sipping his drink. “I hope you enjoy foregone conclusions, Catherine.”

She shook her head. “You say that because you have never met someone like me. Do not underestimate the strength of my will.”

“I do not.”

Catherine slowly rose. “I did not break our agreement,” she said. “It is unkind of you to chastise me for following the terms of our arrangement.”

William took a larger swallow of his brandy and grimaced. “I am beginning to suspect that you are the manner of woman who would argue with St. Peter at the gates of Heaven.”

“I might say the same of you.”

“Only because you insist on being contrary,” William said, standing.

They faced one another, so near that William could have reached out and touched her. Images flooded his mind of Catherine bent over that desk, her pretty brow furrowed as he administered correction.

He wondered if her rear might be sore following the previous night’s activities, and a thrill of delight shot through him. William hoped that she thought of him every time she sat, and that his lesson had left her sore and squirming in discomfort.

“I am not contrary,” she murmured.

“I do not have time to argue with you. I must work,” William said, gesturing toward the door.

“You do not want to concede that I am in the right.”

“Ridiculous,” he said, opening the door and offering her a curt bow. “Look after my sisters.”

“You wish for me to return to the same task that you just criticized me for doing,” she said.

He smiled thinly, and as she came close, he leaned near her face. “Find something ladylike to do,” he said, carefully enunciating each word. “Otherwise, I will be forced to correct your wayward behavior once again.”

Her eyes were hard and bright like steel. “We shall see.”

“Indeed, we shall.”

Catherine left in a whirl of stained skirts and likely soiled petticoats, and William closed the door after her. Once he was alone, he smiled to himself. Catherine was quite a spirited lady, even more so than he had initially anticipated. She would need far more correction if she was to be a proper duchess.

As William returned to his desk and lowered himself into his familiar chair, he found himself quietly anticipating that reality.

CHAPTER18

Catherine’s husband was proving himself to be entirely too masterful. She reflected on this as she spied him across the long expanse of grass. Since his intrusion the morning before, Catherine had elected not to run through the gardens with the sisters. Instead, they had gone to the lake with a small boat. Hester wanted to sketch the fish that swam beneath the surface of the lake.

He had probably come to tell her thatboatswere not ladylike. Catherine scoffed. The man probably believed everything except dancing and embroidery to be unladylike!