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“But…” Katie trailed off, looking worried now. “Howwould you do so? You are the most beautiful creature in the world.”

Alicia wanted to embrace her for such kindness, but she shook her head, taking Katie’s hand.

“Even if that were true, the Duke has no interest in me as a wife. He told me himself before the wedding that this was a marriage of convenience. He expects us to live separate lives.”

Bridget leaned forward, excitement etched on her face. “Well then, this is quite perfect, isn’t it?” she said. “All we have to decide ishowyou will repel him. Men are easy. There are many things that he probably hates. Disrupting his routine, interrupting him while he is working, spilling tea all over his ledgers… that sort of thing.”

Alicia could not help laughing at those suggestions.

“I can think of hundreds of things!” Bridget giggled as they resumed their walk, their pace quickening as the idea took root. “You have always been an accomplished seamstress,” she added enthusiastically. “You mended my dress for me when it ripped at the Gregsons’ ball, and it took you no time at all!”

“Bridget, that was a simple repair, hardly the same as creating gowns from scratch.”

“Precisely! If they do not look good, then all the better! You could make mismatched colors, strange hats. Anything that would remind him you are a nuisance—someone he could not possibly wish to be seen with in public.”

Alicia nodded. “And perhaps I could take up a hobby he does not care for.”

“Like bird watching!” Katie blurted, finally catching onto the idea. “I remember once being accosted at one of Lady Gallthwaite’s soirees by a young man who would not stop telling me about a nightingale at his estate and how rare they are. I was bored to tears.”

“Brilliant,” Bridget said with a giggle. “And we could arrive at this estate without prior notice. I would dearly love to turn up unannounced and disturb his routine. The Duke is clearly a man who enjoys his solitude, as has been proven today. Let us interrupt it as often as we can.”

“And redecorate,” Katie added. “Change the manor to your liking but choose colors that no man would ever agree to. Make the changes without consulting him.”

Bridget and Alicia were laughing hard now.

Given that she had not understood what they were trying to achieve only minutes ago, Katie was coming up with the best ideas between them.

“He does not seem to enjoy emotion. Maybe I could learn all of the gossip, read the scandal sheets to him over breakfast every morning,” Alicia said.

“And when he asks you to stop, continue as if you have not heard him!”

“Do not heed his rules,” Bridget chimed in. “Ensure that everything he asks of you, you do badly or incorrectly. Infuriate him on a daily basis, and your marriage will be over in a week.”

They had rounded one of the larger beds in the garden, the sun beating down on their faces, and Alicia could almost imagine that the wedding had not taken place—that she was merely alone with her friends, enjoying life as she had done so many times before.

“If that fails, you could do what my cousin did and get a puppy,” Katie said with a mischievous glint in her eyes. “She brought it home, having found it on the street. Her husband did not leaveher, but it was a close-run thing. He was incensed and still hates it. Given the Duke’s serious nature, I can imagine he would not wish to have something like that around the house.”

Alicia clapped her hands together with a grin. “I love you both. I have never been more determined to enact a plan in my life. He will be ruing the day he agreed to this match and calling on my father to ask him to take me back.”

“Come the end of the summer, this marriage will be a distant memory, and you can move on. We can live together as two old maids, reading and drinking tea without any men to bother us.”

Alicia drew them both into her arms and embraced them fiercely.

She was filled with hope, excitement, and anticipation. The morning had begun with misery and fear, yet because of her friends, it was ending with happiness and hope.

I will make him hate me. I will make him wish we had never met, and he will be begging to be rid of me.

CHAPTER 8

As Seth stepped into the crowded room, his friends slunk to their respective corners.

Now that they had collected him, it seemed they were content to let him do as he pleased.

He was eager to find his bride, having been reprimanded for neglecting her, but she was nowhere to be seen.

He nodded to a few of the guests, his irritation rising as he looked around the room.

Has she grown tired of the wedding breakfast already? Should she not be playing hostess?