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“Ah, spoilsport. Miss Padder, you shall go first.”

Miss Padder, a tall, hook-nosed redhead with uncommonly beautiful eyes, squirmed in her seat. They all watched Lady Tether shuffle the cards ostentatiously and hold out the pack to Miss Padder.

“You must pick the three cards that call to you the most,” Lady Tether said, only half-serious. Miss Padder did and placed them face up on the baize table, one by one.

All the girls leaned forward, cooing under their breaths as if they knew what the cards meant.

“Four of clubs, the Jack of spades, and ten of diamonds,” Lady Tether announced solemnly. “Now, the four of clubs means that he will be a very kind man, sweet and sensitive, just as any woman would want.”

Miss Padder let out a sigh of delight. “And the others?”

“Jack of spades means that he will beveryhandsome, but a little bit of a rogue.”

“Perfect, perfect! And the last?”

“Well, diamonds always mean wealth, and thetenof diamonds… I think it fair to say that you’ll be marrying a rich man. Miss Padder, you will snatch up a remarkable catch this Season, I think!”

There was laughter and scattered applause. Anna glanced at Miss Padder’s flushed face and could tell that the woman half believed what the cards had told her. Then Lady Tether’s eye landed on Anna, and she knew exactly what was coming next.

“I think our new duchess should go next,” Lady Tether said, grinning mischievously.

This was met with cheers, and Anna had to speak up to be heard over the noise.

“But I’m already married, Lady Tether. What is the point?”

Lady Tether shuffled the cards, grinning wickedly. “Perhapswewould like to know what sort of man you have married.”

Color rushed to Anna’s cheeks, and she allowed herself a fantasy of telling Lady Tether to mind her own business.

That would be impolite, of course, and rather pointless, as she was currently making more friends at this party than she could have hoped. In short, she was doing well and did not want to ruin things.

So she obediently reached out when Lady Tether offered her the pack, plucked out three cards at random, and laid them face up on the table.

She had chosen the ten of diamonds again—clearly, Lady Tether had not shuffled the cards very well—the queen of spades, and the ace of hearts.

Lady Tether sucked in a breath, leaning over the cards. “Well, well,well.”

“What do they mean, then?” Anna asked, trying not to sound eager.

“Well, we all know what the ten of diamonds means… you shall marry a rich man, and so you have. The queen of spades means that he will be the most charming rogue you’ve ever met, but he will be hopelessly devoted to you. You shall be the queen of his heart. And the ace ofhearts… well. It means he is madly in love with you, head-over-heels deep in passion, quite irrevocably.”

There wereoohsand laughter at this reading. Anna felt her cheeks redden. She fanned herself, hoping the others would think that it was just the heat.

“How insightful,” she said, but the women were already moving on to the next reading, with each girl eager to have her marital fortune read.

Anna sat back, her heart pounding, and tried to swallow back a sudden rush of annoyance.

It was just a silly game, no need for her to be so disturbed. She knew the game would never be accurate, but to have it so painfully opposite to the facts was nothing short of misery.

Excepting, of course, the ten of diamonds, which implied she would marry a rich man, which she had.

He was not a charming rogue, she was not the queen of his heart, and he did not love her passionately. He had madethatabundantly clear.

She wondered if the ladies gathered around her would be quite so happy and giddy if they knew just how bleak her marital situation was, married to a man who only married her out of the thinnest sense of duty and desire for a male heir.

He’d bought her, in other words.

In the distance, music started up, and Lady Tether got to her feet, clapping her hands together. “Oh, ladies, the dancing! We must hurry and join in. Come on, everybody!”