Page 19 of A Duchess Disciplined (Dukes of Dominance #1)

CHAPTER 18

C atherine’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 that boats were not ladylike. Catherine scoffed. The man probably believed everything except dancing and embroidery to be unladylike!

“Do you think he will want to join us?” Hannah asked, her voice filled with hushed excitement. “I have not been able to sketch a male subject in some time.”

Catherine clenched her jaw. She suspected that he had come to yell at them, and even if he had not, she would prefer that he not join them. Doubtlessly, any potential enjoyment would be ruined by his presence, for it seemed to Catherine as though William’s chief delight was in finding new errors in her.

He tipped his hat to them. “Good evening, my wife and sweet sisters.”

“Good evening,” Catherine said, making certain that her tone expressed the depths of displeasure she felt at his presence.

William grinned. A more generous person might believe that he had not noticed her displeasure, but Catherine did not feel particularly gracious toward him at the moment. She had an inkling that he enjoyed being unwanted and sought to torment her with his presence.

“What are you doing?” he asked.

“Taking a boat,” Catherine replied. “I hope that is not too dangerous for us?”

“It is not,” he said, “as long as you have a man to accompany you. I shall do quite nicely.”

Heat washed over Catherine’s face. “Jonathan has agreed to accompany us.”

She gestured to the groundskeeper, an elderly man with wisps of white hair and brown eyes. He bowed stiffly at the acknowledgement.

“That is kind of him,” William said. “He can accompany Hannah and Hester, and I will accompany you. There are two boats, after all.”

She curled her hands into fists at her sides. “I am certain that you are too busy for such frivolities.”

“Oh, yes!” Hannah exclaimed, her face brightening. “Please, join us!”

Hester nodded vigorously. “It has been so long since we have been on the lake together.”

Catherine smiled tightly at William’s smug expression. The detestable man knew that she would not wish to upset Hester and Hannah, and it was obvious that he hoped to force her agreement.

“Very well,” Catherine said. “You should ride in the boat with Hester and Hannah, and I will join Jonathan.”

William’s smile broadened. “The boat shall be much too full then.”

That did not remotely make sense!

“Jonathan will accompany my sisters, and I shall get in a boat with you. If we row alongside one another, we shall all be together.”

“An excellent plan, Your Grace,” Jonathan said.

Catherine sent the man a silent glare. How dare he choose William’s side so quickly and without even being asked to? Something like fury coursed through her veins. She might be the duchess of this estate, but it was obvious who held the real power.

“Fine,” Catherine said through gritted teeth. “I suppose that is an excellent plan.”

With a shriek of delight, Hester clambered into one of the boats. Hannah followed silently, but once she had joined her sister, the pair whispered excitedly together. Jonathan ambled over and climbed in with them. Then, he took the oars and pushed against the bank until the boat bobbed into the water.

“Shall we?” William asked.

Catherine deliberately did not look at him. She could feel his pleasure at having gotten what he wanted, and if she argued—no matter how justified her fury—he would use it as an opportunity to tell her that she was not a proper lady.

She gathered her skirts in one hand and gingerly lowered herself into the boat, aware that William hovered nearby. If it was any other man, she might have found it endearing the way that he sought to catch her if she fell.

She managed to sit in the boat without issue, drawing herself up as primly as she could. Maybe she was approaching this all wrong. If William desired a proper lady, maybe she ought to be the most proper lady who ever lived. She would see how well he liked her then!

William deftly seated himself beside her and pushed away from the bank. She had anticipated no issues with this, and indeed, there were none. The fact that William did not encounter difficulties nevertheless vexed her. He might have at least slipped or faltered a little.

“This is quite lovely,” William said, rowing the boat into the lake.

He stayed near his sisters, but not directly on top of them. Catherine spied Hannah gazing at her sketchbook, her pencil working furiously on the page. Hester’s book was open, but she had not yet drawn anything. Instead, she bent her head and peered into the water.

“Are you not going to tell your sister how dangerous it is to look out of the boat like that?” Catherine asked. “She might fall into the water.”

William grinned. “I very much doubt that. Thank you for your concern.”

Catherine clenched her jaw. Running in the garden was unsafe, but peering over the edge of a boat was not. Her husband’s definition of safe seemed to be whichever ideas were his own, and her ideas were all unsafe in contrast. It was entirely illogical! And how was she to argue with this man when he insisted on behaving in such an irrational manner?

William brought the boat to a halt, still maintaining some distance between his sisters. “What a splendid idea to go onto the lake today,” he said.

She swore he was being so cheerful just to spite her. Catherine forced a smile and said nothing.

“What? I have just given you praise for your idea,” William said. “A proper lady would thank me for the compliment.”

“I will thank you for your compliments when you sincerely offer one,” Catherine said. “Any person can choose a suitable activity on a beautiful day. That is not something worth praising.”

“I see.” He sighed heavily. “What a shame! I endeavor to make peace with my wife, and she will not accept the proverbial olive branch.”

“For good reason,” she shot back. “Do you know that you are the most contradictory man I have ever had the displeasure of meeting?”

“Have you been in the company of enough men to know if they are contradictory or not?” William asked. “Given your lack of suitors, I am forced to wonder if you have spent much time in the company of men at all.”

“Have you forgotten that I have an elder brother?”

“No. However, your brother does not seem as though he cared to teach you anything about proper behavior. I do not believe he should count,” William said.

“That is precisely what I mean!” Catherine exclaimed. “You make rules about everything, until they no longer suit you. Then, you simply change them! You tell me that one act does not befit a lady and approve of an equally unacceptable act! You declare that I do not know many gentlemen, and when I disapprove that notion, you change your definition of gentleman !”

William arched an eyebrow. “I have not the faintest idea what you mean.”

“You do know what I mean!” she argued.

“I do not.”

Catherine crossed her arms and looked askance. “I suppose this is your new strategy for making me a proper lady ? You intend to argue until I relinquish the fight?”

“Yes, that is it,” he said sarcastically. “You have found me out, my sweet.”

Catherine inwardly bristled. She did not need his empty endearments, which she was certain held no real fondness for her. For a man who had fought so hard for a wife, she believed that he might detest her. At least, that was?—

That was what she wanted to believe. Catherine could not quite say that it was entirely true. He did not detest her; at times, he seemed as though he quite enjoyed her company. It was only that he wanted her to be someone else, would prefer her a different way than she was.

What an ill-matched pair they were!

“I thought you would be pleased to see me,” William continued.

“Pleased?”

“Indeed. You had requested that I spend more time in my sisters’ company, and I have done so. Not all men heed the counsel of their wives as I have.”

Catherine clenched her jaw and refused to look at him. He only heeded her counsel if it might give him the pleasure of upsetting her! And that ought not even be defined as heeding counsel . It was more like he was twisting her own words and actions to suit his own ends.

“Indeed, I would argue that I am an exemplary husband because I am so willing to listen to you,” he said. “You should be delighted that you have wed such a wonderful man.”

Wonderful ! As if she had been given any real choice in the matter! It was either marriage to her or Dorothy, and that was hardly a choice at all. At least, Dorothy had not wed this man, though. Catherine had spared her sister any frustration at having to handle this man and being subjected to his whims and arguments.

But the amorous encounters were…unexpectedly pleasant. Heat flooded her face, and she hoped that William did not notice the way that her cheeks assuredly pinkened when she recalled their most recent encounter. She was certain that proper ladies did not find pleasure whilst being cast over their husbands’ knees and chastised soundly.

William heaved a long-suffering sigh. “Meanwhile, I am being forced to handle a wife who acts as though she detests being a lady. That is a great pity.”

“Perhaps, that is the only woman you deserve,” she said dryly. “You are trying to vex me, so I lash out. Then, you can criticize me for it.”

He grinned. “You believe that I would do such a thing?”

“I know you would.”

William shook his head in mock dismay. “I am wounded that you have such a low opinion of me,” he said. “What have I done to gain your ire?”

“You came to my brother’s estate and demanded that my sister or I marry you,” Catherine said. “ That is what you have done, and you well know it.”

“You volunteered, as I recall,” William replied. “If you want to discuss contradictions, you need look no further than yourself. I asked for your sister, and you volunteered to be my bride with the full understanding of what that arrangement involved. Now, you want to act as if I have misled you in some manner.”

“I did not understand everything that you wanted,” Catherine argued, her gaze darting to the boat where Hester and Hannah were. Satisfied that the girls were distracted by one another’s company and would not overhear, she added, “I did not know what you meant by correction .”

“That should have been obvious.”

“It was not.”

William shrugged. “Then, you ought to blame your brother for not teaching you what to expect. Or perhaps, your sister. I have often held that women ought to have those conversations with one another.”

“I doubt most husbands are like you,” Catherine said.

Admittedly, her only experience with husbands came from her own father and from novels, usually written by ladies, about such things. Certainly, none of those had ever involved chastisement or amorous encounters. At most, stories would use some delightful euphemism about how the couple had made passing glad .

“You might be correct on that account,” he said. “Most husbands would not tolerate such a disrespectful wife. At least, I am willing to encourage your improvement.”

“How gracious.”

He smiled brightly, as if the compliment was genuine. “There is the gratitude that I was hoping for.”

“I am curious, though,” Catherine said suddenly. “What will you do when I become a proper wife and duchess? You will no longer have any means by which to occupy your time.”

“I am certain that I will find something.”

Catherine peered into the water, watching as fish darted about between the delicate purple-pink flowers of the lily pads. They were not particularly pretty fish, just brown and black spotted things. She tried to see why Hester loved them so much. Perhaps, it was the elegant way they moved in the water. They swayed about, their translucent fins wading effortlessly through the lake.

“And what will you find?” Catherine asked.

“Who can know? It will need to be quite a large task if it is to consume as much energy as you do.”

“It seems to me as though you spend little energy on me,” Catherine replied. “The papers in your study seem to receive most of your attention.”

“Those papers are the dukedom.”

Catherine removed her glove and let her fingers idly move through the water. It was cool to the touch, and the light reflected upon it as though it was a finely faceted jewel.

“Just think,” Catherine said, “about how much more time you could spend with those papers if you would leave tormenting me.”

“I have thought about it. I have decided that a new duchess requires that some initial time be invested, however, so I am content to neglect the papers for a little while.”

“I see.”

“I thought you might.”

“Women do not like being referred to as investments . I would assume you know that.”

William shook his head. He took the rows and moved their boat a little. Jonathan, the gardener, had moved Hester and Hannah further into the lake. Hester gasped in delight and pointed to something that she had found in the water.

“Nevertheless, women are investments,” William said. “That is why the ton places so much thought in who to wed. A wealthy wife might line one’s coffers more effectively than any property or cargo.”

For that, she found that she had no answer. While William’s words were true enough, Catherine did not want to concede that there was the matter of propriety . Ladies wished to believe that they were something more than investments, and proper gentlemen would behave as though they were.

“How would you feel if a man referred to your sisters as investments?” Catherine asked.

“I should call him an enterprising businessman,” William replied. “You must do your job well, so they may be acquired by an adept businessman, a clever man who can ensure that their every need is met, rather than some penniless charlatan.”

“What a romantic view you have of the world,” she murmured.

“I never claimed to have a romantic view. You cannot be disappointed in that, can you?” William asked. “You claim that I am always seeking fault in you, but I would argue that treatment is well-deserved. It does seem as if you are always seeking fault with me, after all.”

“I do not have to seek for anything,” she replied. “Your nature is readily apparent to even the most casual observer.”

“Is that so?” he asked.

“As far as I can discern.”

“That only makes me wonder if you are a discerning woman,” William said. “Maybe I have hidden depths, and you have simply not cared to look for them.”

Catherine watched him for a long moment, contemplating that answer. She felt a little as though she ought to take offense, but the thought that William might have depths she had not previously discovered was an intriguing notion. What might they hold?

“With time, I suppose I may discover something of interest,” she said.

His eyes were bright with merriment. “Perhaps, you shall.”