Page 18 of A Duchess Disciplined (Dukes of Dominance #1)

CHAPTER 17

W illiam rubbed his eyes and grimaced at the neat rows of numbers before him. He had not been working with the numbers for very long, but he found that he was already weary of them. His mind longed to wander to some other place; that was not like him, for William had always been quite proud of his strong self-discipline.

Maybe it was Catherine. He had no reason for believing it was her, but she was the largest change in his life of late. Maybe her poor habits were affecting his own. He drew in a sharp breath of air. Shouts rang in the air, and William looked askance toward the window. They were not alarmed shouts, but the hitch-pitched sounds of children at play.

“It is you,” he muttered, as he rose from his desk.

William walked to the window and clasped his hands behind his back. The gardens spread out before him, and there was Catherine running about with her skirts hitched up past her knees. From where he watched, it was not readily apparent what she ran from. Perhaps, it was Hannah and Hester, who ran after her with reckless abandon. William grimaced at the muddied hems of their gowns. Doubtless, the laundress would be quite vexed with them.

More irritating, was this not the same behavior that he had demanded that Catherine cease? Certainly, there were no ducks this time, but she still ran carelessly through the gardens as though yesterday had not happened. He wondered if he had been mistaken about her not purposefully vexing him. Maybe Catherine did wish to irritate him. Maybe she enjoyed him more when he was a little rough with her.

Or maybe she had decided that this behavior was permissible because she was in private. William could not have said. He crossed his arms and watched, considering the situation more thoroughly. It was in private, and the agreement was that Catherine might be herself in private. She had not broken their agreement, but he nonetheless felt his blood heat seeing her. Catherine had not learned her lesson the night before, so perhaps another was needed.

Hannah shouted something, and Catherine spun around. Her hair hung in disheveled strands about her face, and her cheeks were colored pink with exertion. She said something which he could not quite hear. They all seemed to be enjoying themselves, and with a twinge of guilt, William remembered what she had said about the girls needing their brother.

Perhaps, I ought to join them .

It would be a delightful surprise if he did. He could imagine too easily how Catherine’s eyes would light up and how his sisters’ faces would brighten at the sight of him. Suddenly, another scream filled the air, but this was not one of joy. Hannah pitched forward and fell hard on the ground.

William’s pulse jumped, and he stormed away from the window. Hannah was hurt, and it was all because of Catherine’s influence. If they had been behaving in a more ladylike manner, this would not have happened.

What if his sister was badly injured? What if she had broken her leg? William’s heart thundered so harshly against his ribs that he felt as if it might burst from his chest. It seemed as though it was no time at all before he reached the ground floor and tore open the doors that led to the gardens.

The spring air whirled about him, warm and welcoming. “Hannah!” he boomed, his voice a harsh contrast with the serenity of the day.

Hannah, who had climbed to her feet, stared at him with wide eyes. A large streak of green stained the front of her white gown; William did not imagine that the stain would be easily vanquished. Beside Hannah, Hester stood and twisted her fingers into her skirts. Catherine stood behind them, looking like a wild woman with her hitched-up and mud-drenched skirts.

“What were you thinking?” he roared, gesturing towards Hannah.

“I was thinking that we would have some exercise!” Catherine exclaimed. “There is no harm in that!”

“No harm,” he scoffed. “No harm, except that my sister fell and hurt herself!”

“Children fall! Adults fall!” Catherine protested. “You can see that she is fine.”

“I am fine,” Hannah said meekly. “Truly.”

“This time!” he countered. “What about the next time you trip and fall? You could have been seriously injured!”

“By running in the garden?” Catherine asked, disbelief heavy in her voice. “You are being unreasonable.”

“ Unreasonable ?”

“I am really—” Hannah cut off abruptly, as William fixed her with a stern glare. She shrank back from him, looking appropriately chastened.

William fixed his gaze next on his wife, who crossed her arms. “You are being unreasonable,” she repeated. “It was just a minor mishap. It happens .”

“I do not have to answer to you. Find a more appropriate pastime to engage in.”

He turned on his heels and stormed away.

“I will talk to them,” Catherine murmured behind him.

William scowled, as he entered the house. She would talk to him , would she? His wife had become far too comfortable with him, and it seemed as though his punishment had done nothing. William clenched his jaw. If she was going to follow him, at least, they would argue away from his sisters’ prying eyes.

He slammed the door behind him, only to hear it wrenched open a moment later. “Do not walk away from me!” Catherine exclaimed. “We need to have a serious conversation about what just happened.”

“No, we do not,” he replied, making for the stairs. “I had presumed that you would have learned your place after that lesson , but it appears as if I was mistaken.”

“No, you are mistaken!” Catherine argued, following him. “Our agreement was that I could be myself when we were away from public, and the gardens are not public. You had no reason to be upset!”

William bristled, less bothered by her defiance than he was by her point being entirely rational. She was right. Catherine had been in private with his sisters, which meant that she was allowed to be herself. Seeing his sister fall had made him feel as though he was witnessing his mother once more in her final days. Hannah and Hester were the only people he cared about and the only family he had left.

Certainly, it was unlikely that Hannah would have been fatally injured by tripping in the garden, but the possibility still remained. Accidents happened. If something had happened to Hannah while she was running about in the gardens, he would have never forgiven himself.

“Listen to me!” Catherine insisted.

He thundered up the stairs. She followed, her slippers a faint, shuffling whisper behind him.

“Hannah and Hester are children!” Catherine exclaimed. “They ought to be allowed to enjoy themselves! I have told you about all the fond memories I have of my childhood. Would you deprive your own sisters of those same memories?”

He bristled at the question, for it struck him more strongly than it should have. What did she know about being both guardian and brother to two young girls? Nothing! Yet she dared to presume that she knew more than he did about the matter!

“Do not ignore me!” she cried. “That will not resolve the matter!”

He reached his study and flung the door open. A few bold strides brought him to his desk. Catherine came behind him, of course, and crossed her arms. She fixed him with a stern gaze as he seated himself behind his desk. His mind was awhirl with the situation and his own reaction. With a sudden rush of guilt, he realized that he had reacted more strongly than he ought to have. Even if the behavior had been unladylike and worthy of chastisement, it had been unlikely that his sister would be seriously injured.

Catherine did not seem inclined to leave. He poured himself a glass of brandy and, after some consideration, poured her one, too. William pushed the glass to her and took his own, taking a small sip. The spirit was warm and invigorating, and he felt himself relax a little from the burn as he swallowed.

“We need to talk about this,” Catherine said, swiping the glass of brandy from the desk. “You cannot just ignore me.”

He could not —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 his sister .

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 you do misbehave 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 maybe you want 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.