Page 12 of Desire and Discipline

Joseph

Unfortunately, when Priscilla left for the day to make her calls, Joseph had nothing to do.

On any other day, he might have accompanied her, but she did not want him to because her first call was to Lady Cross.

Considering the lady had specifically told her to stop by, even if she was not officially at-home, Joseph thought it likely Priscilla would still be admitted to the house for tea.

After taking his morning ride, he found himself back at home, pacing and waiting for Priscilla’s return. Of course, she would likely not be back until the evening when it would be time to get ready for the Haversham ball, yet he could not stay away. Just in case she returned early.

Unfortunately, rather than Priscilla, he found Josie and Evie having tea in the drawing room. Two of the last people he wanted to see. He tried to stride quickly by the doorway, but his cousin called after him, obviously having spotted him passing.

Taking a deep breath, he stood up straight, tugged on his jacket, and went to face her. While it had turned out right in the end, he was still furious with her. They might as well have it out now.

“Joseph.” Evie smiled at him from the couch, but the smile did not reach her green eyes. Those were hard as emeralds, which piqued his temper even more. “How do you fare today?”

“Fine, no thanks to you.” He scowled at her, leaning on the door frame rather than fully entering the room.

She and Josie were seated across from each other, one on the couch, the other on a chair, with the tea tray between them.

Wearing a green and ivory striped day gown, her hair pulled back into an elaborate coiffure, his cousin looked every inch the lady.

No one seeing her would ever guess that she could outbox, outshoot, and outride nearly every man of her acquaintance or that she and her husband were currently the acting Spymasters to the Crown.

A position they’d recently taken over from Joseph’s father.

No, she looked like a delicate, proper lady of the ton, just like Josie. Josie was also a hellion, nearly a match for Evie, and her smile was just as viperish.

Though he appreciated how protective they were of Priscilla, he did not forgive them for meddling in his affairs. Especially with how they’d circumvented the rules of the Society.

“I would say you are fine, thanks to her,” Josie replied tartly. “Otherwise, Priscilla would still be going about none the wiser, and the eventuality of her discovery would have been that much more painful. The longer this nonsense went on, the worse it would be.”

“And I did warn you.” Evie did not look the least bit sorry as she lifted her teacup to her lips, blowing on it before taking a small sip.

“You had the opportunity to tell Priscilla yourself. Instead, you chose to do nothing of the sort and pretend the problem would go away. Indeed, if you had not chosen to go to the Society last night, I would not have invited her to join us.” She pinned him with a hard look.

“Do not blame the consequences of your own actions on others. It is not becoming.”

“It is also not becoming to betray your cousin and push him into admitting something before he is ready. It was my life and my wife. My mistake to make.”

“Priscilla is my friend, and you involved us in your lies by participating at the Society,” Evie retorted, glaring back at him just as hard as he was at her. “You might have had no problem lying to her, but I did.”

“Of course, I had a problem with it.” He threw his hands up in the air as he straightened, too frustrated to continue leaning, no longer able to keep up an air of nonchalance. “But it was still my decision that you took away from me.”

“It was not my decision to have to lie to my friend. My cousin, now that you’ve married her.

You attempted to take away my choice when you demanded that of me.

And it was your decision to go back to the Society, even after you’d been caught and after I told you to tell her.

” Evie sniffed disdainfully. “If you had not done so, you would have never been caught. I still do not understand why you could not just tell her what you wanted.”

“You do not understand because you are a woman. It is all well and good for you and the others to say I should have told her. No one would blink an eye at a wife submitting to her husband, but the other way round…” He shook his head, pressing his lips together.

“There is a reason men like myself are drawn to the Society.”

Josie rolled her eyes at him, increasing his consternation.

She’d never acted like that around him before.

If anything, she’d always been very agreeable with him.

Marrying his brother had wrought a change in her that Joseph did not like.

Thank goodness Elijah had stepped in to marry her and save her reputation, so Joseph could marry Priscilla instead.

He could not imagine being married to Josie if this was what she was like as a wife.

“Oh, yes, as women, we have no idea what it’s like to be judged by our gender and society’s expectations. That is certainly something we are not at all familiar with. Yet, somehow, we have not let any of that stop us.” She raised her eyebrows at him.

“Because you never cared what society thinks of you, you were content to live out in the country,” he retorted.

“And you care too much… especially when broader society would never know.” Evie’s disdain dripped from her words as she set down her teacup, her voice rising along with his.

“I could not know how Priscilla would react!”

“So, it was better to not allow her to react at all? To lie to her?”

He was opening his mouth to respond when his father’s voice cut him off.

“Joseph, I need to speak with you.”

Turning, he looked down the hall to where the Marquess of Camden, his father, Oliver Stuart, was standing, leaning slightly on his cane.

He looked just like Joseph imagined Elijah eventually would, still strong and tall, with wings of grey at his temples contrasting against his black hair.

Dressed for the day in a grey coat and green vest that brought out the green in his eyes, he cut a striking figure.

The cane did nothing to diminish his stature.

He wielded it like an accessory, not a necessity.

In truth, Joseph had long suspected that his father did not need the cane anymore, but continued to use it as an excuse to keep Diana employed as his nurse and in their household.

He glanced at Josie and Evie, who were now sipping tea as if they had not just been near shouting at him. Josie picked up a cookie.

Rather than getting their attention again, he stalked away to see what his father wanted.

Priscilla

“Mrs. Joseph Stuart to see Lady Cross,” she said, handing her card to the stern butler guarding the door. Like Joseph’s family, Lady Cross lived in the heart of Mayfair, though her house was smaller than the Marquess’.

“Lady Cross is expecting you,” the butler said, moving aside to allow her entrance.

Bracing her courage, Priscilla stepped inside.

She brushed her hands over her skirts, removing imaginary dirt.

Though she’d chosen her favorite day gown of blue and cream, she still felt as unsure as a green girl at her first introduction to the ton.

As much as she did not want it to matter what Catherine thought of her, it did.

“This way, please.” The butler led her through the hall to a sitting room at the back of the house. The home might be smaller than the Marquess’, but it was no less lavish and tastefully decorated with a true designer’s eye. She wondered if Catherine had done it all herself.

Entering the sitting room, she could not help but feel pleased when she realized she inadvertently complemented the colors within.

Decorated in navy, ivory, and pale yellow, the room was warm and welcoming, and set off her lighter blue and cream dress almost as if it was designed to do so.

Seated on a couch with a book in her hand, Catherine was wearing a striped grey and yellow dress that also complemented the colors in the room without matching it.

“Good morning, Priscilla. Please, come and sit down.” Catherine smiled warmly, glancing over Priscilla’s shoulder. “Laurens, bring us some tea, please.”

“Yes, my Lady.” The butler disappeared as Priscilla made her way to the chair Catherine had gestured to as the lady put her book aside.

“Good morning,” Priscilla said as she sat down, smoothing her hands across her skirts to make sure they lay perfectly. “I hope I am not calling too early.”

“No, no.” Catherine waved her hand airily. “Truthfully, I would have been disappointed had you not shown up so quickly. And now that you are here, Laurens knows I am not at-home to anyone else, so our discussion will remain private.”

“Thank you. I must admit, I have many questions, none of which feel comfortable being spoken aloud.” Priscilla started to frown before smoothing out her expression. She did not want Catherine to think she was being unfriendly, but the older woman appeared unbothered.

“As you get older, you will find that it becomes easier to speak of whatever you wish.” Catherine chuckled.

“Though we must always have a care to toe the line of propriety, you will find that the line is much farther out there than you think it is, especially with a woman of your connections. Beauty, money, and power always create more tolerance. Trust me, you will grow into your confidence.”

Priscilla certainly hoped so. She could not help but regard the other woman with more than a bit of envy for her easy self-assurance.

They both fell silent as a knock at the door announced the arrival of the tea tray. It was not Laurens but a maid who brought it in, and they reverted to meaningless social chatter as she laid out the tray for them, waiting until she was gone to speak of anything indiscreet.

Priscilla was relieved to see that Catherine was circumspect in front of her maids.

Even before she’d married the son of the Crown’s spymaster, she’d noticed how many of her set spoke in front of their servants as if they were not people and did not have ears.

The gossip below stairs was often ahead of and more complete than that above.

Something that became even more starkly clear after marrying Joseph and seeing his family gather information.

While Joseph was not particularly interested in being a spy, he did still help, especially as his father worked on passing the reins to Evie and her husband, Anthony.

Priscilla had become one of Evie’s informants as well, as she overheard a good deal of gossip while making the social rounds.

So far, there had been no nefarious plots uncovered, but Priscilla did enjoy feeling useful.

Once the maid was gone and the tea poured, Catherine smiled at Priscilla.

“So. What would you like to know?”

“Everything.”

Catherine laughed at the prompt reply, and Priscilla smiled, though it had not been a joke. Fortunately, Catherine seemed to realize that and had only been laughing at Priscilla’s eagerness.

“Well, it is certainly difficult to go over everything in one sitting, but I will give it my best try.” Sipping her tea, Catherine appeared thoughtful.

“Last night was a good start, certainly. It might take some time for Joseph to fully accept your lead, though. Not because of anything you have done. He is fighting against himself and his own perceptions of how things ought to be, rather than how things actually are.”

That certainly aligned with what Priscilla had noticed as well.

“He seems to think there is something wrong with his wife taking him in hand,” she said. “It was not easy for me to make the mental leap, either. It was certainly not how I was raised to be, but… it felt very good. Both unnatural, yet entirely natural simultaneously, which sounds silly, but…”

“No, it sounds exactly right,” Catherine reassured her. “It certainly seemed natural to you, but, as you said, that was not how you were raised. So, both you and Joseph will be fighting for your instincts and against what you have been taught to do.”

“Is that what you had to do?” She felt as though she already knew the answer, but she wanted to hear it, so she did not feel so alone.

Though her friends would be supportive, she knew they would, they could not join her in this journey.

They had already gone down their own paths, which were very different from the one she was stepping onto.

Though she did believe that Evie especially would know something about fighting against society’s expectations, in this, she would not have the same experience as Priscilla since it was her husband who had taken her in hand, not the other way around.

“It is. And I am here to help you every step along the way.” Catherine smiled. “Let us start with talking about your mindset. Would you like a biscuit?”

“Yes, please.” Priscilla picked one from the plate Catherine offered to her. It was likely to be a long afternoon, and she needed sustenance for the lessons ahead.