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“Iwould,” he replied. “And for good reason. You might catch your death to a chill.”

“I am certain that you would find some means of warming me,” Catherine replied, grinning.

Her husband seemed to attempt a stern face, but his lips twitched in amusement. “I am certain that I would, and I doubt that you would enjoy it.”

“I would,” Catherine insisted, “just to spite you.”

William shook his head. He briefly dropped his arm so he could open the door for her. William offered a gallant bow, and Catherine curtsied. “Thank you, my gracious lord.”

“Of course, my lady.”

Catherine took his arm once again, and they walked down the marble steps leading into the garden. They walked past the hedge maze with its elegant marble statues, where Hester and Hannah waited for them.

“You came!” Hannah exclaimed.

“We are so happy that you could join us!” Hester declared, grasping her skirts and swaying them a little in her hands. “I was reading about songbirds, and I want to catalogue how many different species we have on the estate.”

“A noble pursuit,” Catherine said. “You will be just like a proper biologist!”

Hester beamed at her. “Yes, exactly!”

“Well, we do not want to keep the songbirds waiting,” William said. “Shall we?”

Hannah and Hester both nodded. They turned and excitedly bounded into the maze. Catherine and William followed, as the girls ran about, laughing and shouting at one another, as they tried to find their way through the maze. They had seemingly not entered it very often, for they came to dead ends again and again.

At the center of the maze was a lake surrounded by gardens and a tall, sprawling oak tree. It was the most marvelous place that Catherine had ever beheld, and she would have greatly enjoyed having such a place in her youth.

She wondered if Hannah and Hester had spent much of their childhood enjoying that secret, hidden garden. Or had their brother’s protectiveness kept them from spending their days running about there?

“I would like to have a modiste come to the estate,” William said suddenly.

Catherine raised an eyebrow and looked aside at him. “Oh?”

“Yes,” he replied. “Based on your performance at the garden party, I think you have proven that you will be a worthy companion at the ball, but I feel as though you ought to wear something new. Worthy of being a duchess.”

“Do you find my gowns to be insufficient?” Catherine asked.

He laughed. “Not at all! I find all your gowns to be lovely,” William said, lowering his voice into a conspiratorial whisper. “Do you want to know why? It is because I am able to see all of those lovely gowns on the floor of my bedchamber.”

Catherine’s face grew hot. “You are a rogue, my lord. Do you know that?”

William grinned. “I do know that, but it is difficult to keep a leash on my more base impulses when I have such a beautiful and challenging wife.”

Catherine hummed and nudged his shoulder with her own. “You flatter me.”

“Any flattery is deserved,” William said. “A more romantic man might be inclined to write poetry to your visage.”

At that, she laughed. “You are beginning to sound insincere! No man would ever write poetry to me. I might be lovely, but I am certain that I am no lovelier than any other well-bred lady of the ton.”

“I disagree.”

“You would.”

At last, they reached the end of the maze. Hannah shouted in victory, and Hester grinned. “Look!” Hester exclaimed, pointing. “The cardinals are such perfect birds. I am always struck by how bright and red they are.”

“Some of them,” Hannah said.

Hester nodded. “Yes, only the male birds.”