Page 23

“ I believe your wife cheats at cards, William,” James declared the following day.

The four companions sat around the card table. Arabella had just won her third hand in a row, and now, James narrowed his eyes at her in lighthearted suspicion.

She laughed at him. “I don’t cheat,” she informed him. “You lose fair and square.”

“Yes, it’s possible for you to lose at cards without anyone having cheated, you know,” his wife informed him. “I don’t think you’re a cheat at all, Arabella.”

“Thank you, Victoria. Truly, beating your husband at cards isn’t meaningful enough to compel me to cheat!”

“Oh, he knows that,” Victoria laughed. “It’s just that it’s been such a long time since anyone got the better of him in any sort of game. If you want my opinion, it’s been a long time coming, and I’m glad to see you doing it.”

“Well, I’m more than happy to oblige,” Arabella said. “Shall we have another hand?”

William was already shuffling. “This is more fun than I’ve had in an age,” he declared. “Your wife is right, James—it’s been too long since you lost at any game. You’ve grown far too used to winning at things like this. I wish I’d brought Arabella into your life a long time ago.”

“I see,” Arabella teased him. “This is the real reason you married me, isn’t it? Because you needed someone who could beat your friend at cards.”

“Yes, you’ve found me out,” William agreed.

“I asked around the ton and heard rumors that you were known for your card-playing skills, and I decided to trust those rumors without putting you to the test at all for myself. In fact, I was so confident in what I was doing that I secreted myself away in the library at James’ ball and waited for you to come in so that I could trap you into a marriage.

And just look at how well it has all worked out for me. ”

Arabella laughed, but deep within her, she felt a squirm of discomfort. No, perhaps that was too strong a word. It wasn’t uncomfortable, really, to hear the things he was saying because she knew they weren’t true. But it was disquieting .

It was disquieting because even though she knew William hadn’t gone into that library to try to trap her into anything, there were still questions in her mind.

He hadn’t needed to marry her, but he had chosen to do so?

Why? Why had he done that? What could his true motive have been?

And what were his motives now, when he ordered her not to dance with other gentlemen at balls?

He was jealous, that much was clear—but did that mean he had feelings for her?

And if he did, what was she to do about it?

The truth was although all of those things might be matters of concern, she couldn’t bring herself to worry about them too much today. She was having too much fun.

Arabella had been close with her sisters all their lives.

They were the most meaningful people in the world to her, and she knew that the bond they shared could never be replicated—not with anyone.

And yet, sitting here with James and Victoria, she was able to fully appreciate for the first time in her life that there was another kind of bond people could share.

She had never realized she was lacking this—simple friendship. She had never realized that this thing was missing from her life.

How she hoped she would be able to keep it!

Even though they had known one another for a relatively short time, she was already beginning to feel attached to these new companions.

She enjoyed the way James teased her, like the elder brother she had never had but had often dreamed of.

It would have been so lovely to have someone like that in her life—someone who knew her well, who she could trust to like her and care for her.

Someone with whom her relationship would be wonderfully simple. Perhaps James would be that person.

As for Victoria, she was a pure delight to Arabella. She was warm and funny and kind, and she already felt like another sister—but this time, not a sister Arabella had a responsibility to protect and provide for. Not a sister she could let down. A sister who was, quite simply, a friend.

And she owed a massive debt of gratitude to William for these new friendships of course. That was something she thought she might never be able to pay back. She hadn’t brought anything so wonderful into his life; that was for sure.

He dealt out another hand of cards. Arabella picked hers up and fanned them out in front of her. She had a losing hand this time, and there was no saving it. She was going to have to bluff her way out of this.

“Arabella,” Victoria said as the round began, “how are you enjoying life as a duchess? I know it was quite an adjustment for me after I first married, but I’ve grown quite happy with this life. How has your experience been?”

“Well, it’s a lot to adjust to, to be sure,” Arabella agreed. “Especially coming from such humble beginnings as I did.”

“That’s right, your family were commoners.”

“Until my father came into his title, yes.”

“Was that expected?”

“Victoria, don’t interrogate her,” William scolded reprovingly.

But Arabella shook her head. “I don’t mind, William,” she told him.

“I so rarely have the opportunity to talk about my past. It’s nice to be asked.

” She turned back to Victoria. “It wasn’t expected, to answer your question.

The late Baron Highgate was a distant cousin of my father’s.

We knew we were related to him, but I don’t think anyone ever guessed Father would be the one to inherit his title.

There were other members of the family who ought to have been ahead of him in line, but I think someone died, if I recall correctly, and Father was moved up, and…

anyway, we found ourselves at Highgate.”

“It must have been a bit of a shock for you,” Victoria said gently. “I don’t know how I would have taken something like that.”

“She became a member of society,” James said. “It was a good surprise, of course.”

“Well, but you know things weren’t easy for us,” Arabella pointed out. “The late baron had run up a huge debt—really shocking. That’s the reason my family never had any money to speak of. We had to compete in society, but we never had the fine things you need to compete.”

“And yet you managed to marry a duke,” James said.

Arabella knew that there were people who would have made such a comment to her in a pointed way.

It had already happened as a matter of fact.

People would look at her and think she must have done all she could to force this marriage, that she must be mighty pleased with herself now that it had worked out in her favor.

She knew she was being judged. She couldn’t exactly even find fault with the people who were doing the judging.

But she also knew that they were wrong—and she believed that James knew it too.

He wasn’t saying she’d married a duke as an accusation.

He was bringing it to her as evidence of her success.

He was telling her that she had done a better job of blending into society than she was giving herself credit for because, after all, she had made an advantageous match.

It occurred to Arabella—somehow, this was the first time she’d genuinely had this realization—that he was right.

She had made a good match. And though she might have come from nothing, though she might have spent much of her time as the daughter of a near-penniless baron, now she was indistinguishable from other duchesses. She had found her place in the world.

And if it didn’t truly feel as though it belonged to her yet—well, what of it? That would happen given a little more time. She would become a real duchess and cease to be a woman who felt like she was simply pretending with every passing day that she was one.

She smiled at James. “I suppose I did marry a duke,” she agreed. “And I suppose that puts me in elite company indeed.”

“Oh, don’t flatter me,” Victoria laughed, tossing down the cards in her hand. “I’m terrible at this game by the way. I don’t know why I play with any of you. You’d think I was just fond of losing or something.”

“We can stop,” Arabella suggested, not wanting her new friend to suffer an unpleasant time.

“No, no, you all continue. I think I’ll go and play some music if no one minds.”

“She’s quite accomplished on the pianoforte,” James murmured, rearranging his cards in his hand. “Arabella, do you play?”

“No, I was never able to learn,” she said. “My family never owned one.”

“There wasn’t one at Highgate?” William asked her.

“No. If there ever was, the late baron must have sold it to try to manage all his debt,” she said.

“Well, that’s a shame. Would you like to learn how to play?” he asked her.

“I never thought about it,” she admitted. “But—yes, I think that would be very nice if such a thing is possible.”

“Of course, it’s possible. We’ll see about an instructor who can come and teach you the basics. Arabella is very clever, you know,” he said to James.

“That’s a generous gift,” James said.

And then Arabella and William were quiet again, and the air seemed full of tension once more.

It was a generous gift, of course. To Arabella’s way of thinking, it was considerably more generous than an emerald pendant. And it was much easier to accept though she wasn’t entirely sure why.

He had said he wanted to spoil her. She supposed this must be the beginning of that.

Although, of course, it wasn’t the beginning at all. Not really.

There had been the hydrangeas. There had been the ball gown.

There had been the lovely meals, so different from what she was used to back in her father’s house.

Every bit of it a part of the new and exciting life that was hers now that she was his .

There had been no moment when he hadn’t been giving her things—lavishing gifts upon her, making her feel special and wanted.

Even at the ball, when he had taken her away from Lord Marbury—even that had been an unexpected gift, in its way, for she had never expected a gentleman to care for her so much that he would want to keep her out of another man’s arms. Even on the day they had said their vows to one another, she had been certain it would never be like that between herself and William.

And if she had wanted to play the pianoforte, surely that would be something she’d have needed to negotiate at the very beginning, back when he was offering to allow her to set her terms for their marriage. How could he be letting her add new conditions even now?

There was only one way to interpret it all.

Whatever his feelings might mean to him, however deep they might go, he cared for her. He wanted her.

Did he love her?

Even to think that word felt impossibly presumptuous. He had offered to help her learn to play an instrument. He hadn’t declared his undying devotion. It was irresponsible of her to be thinking of things in those terms. She was setting herself up for a fall.

And yet, no matter how she tried, the word wouldn’t leave her head for the rest of the day.

Love .

Was it possible?