Page 37 of Married to the Icy Duke (Duke Wars #3)

“I have an idea for a fun game we can play,” she said, grinning. “It will predict what our husbands will be like.”

Madeline stiffened. “It isn’t fortune-telling, is it? Papa has a horror of such things.”

“Not exactly. It only predicts what sort of husband we’ll get. We should try it, to see what sort of man you’ll marry?”

Madeline bit her lower lip. She made as if to lift her fingers to her mouth, then seemed to catch herself, tucking her hands underneath her thighs instead.

“I … I don’t know if I want to play it,” Madeline murmured. “What if it says that I won’t get a husband, or I’ll get somebody beastly?”

Charlotte settled herself down again. “Well, I tell you what, why don’t I go first? I already know what husband I’m going to get, so we can test to see whether it’s accurate. Sybella taught me the game. That’s Isaac’s sister, by the way. You’ll like her.”

Madeline still looked unsure. “How does it work?”

“I shall give you an example. Now, you shuffle the deck and the player picks off three cards. Every card in the deck means something. Suppose the cards I picked out were …” she paused, plucking out the cards in question, “The ace of spades, the ace of clubs, and a Jack. A Jack means that I will get no husband at all, when coupled with a spade and a club. However, an eight or nine of hearts along with a king and queen of diamonds means that I’ll be full of love, with a husband who is extremely wealthy. ”

She shuffled all the cards back into the pack, taking care to ensure that the dreaded Jack was far down at the bottom.

There were worse cards than a Jack, however. Sybella had told her that the clubs could mean violence, and a ten of clubs in such a hand could indicate a very sad life indeed.

“I still don’t want to play,” Madeline murmured.

“That’s alright,” Charlotte reassured her. “I’ll play a hand for myself, then.”

She plucked three cards off the top of the deck and laid them down face-up before she could let herself think twice.

It was, after all, only a game.

Sybella had said that the order of the cards mattered a great deal, too.

The first card was the king of clubs. A king never meant violence, Charlotte knew—kings only meant husbands. Queens also meant that one would be married, but to a man of one’s own choice. Next to the king was a ten of hearts, followed by the Jack of diamonds.

“A Jack and a king in the same hand?” Madeline queried. “I thought a Jack meant you wouldn’t get a husband, and a king meant that you would?”

“A king trumps a Jack every time,” Charlotte responded mechanically. “In this hand, it means mischief. No, not mischief. Perhaps … Perhaps tragedy. It’s rather rare to see a Jack in the same hand as a king, I’ll be honest. I don’t believe it’s a good thing.”

“And the hearts? Ten of hearts is a good thing, yes?”

Charlotte swallowed. “Yes. It means love, and a lot of it.”

There was a brief silence. Madeline cleared her throat after a moment had passed.

“So, is it a good hand, or a bad?”

“I … I don’t know,” Charlotte confessed. “It says that I’ll get a husband, which I know that I shall, by this time tomorrow. But it also talks of love and tragedy. I don’t expect to find love in my marriage, and I certainly hope not to find tragedy.”

The awkward silence continued. Madeline, clearly hoping to lighten the mood, snatched up the cards, hastily shuffling the hand back in with the others.

“Well, it’s a silly game, isn’t it? And if you don’t fall in love, you’ll know that the tragedy is all made-up, too. You aren’t upset, are you?”

“No, of course not, I …” Charlotte trailed off when movement caught her eye out of the window. Glancing down, she saw a figure strolling across the lawn beneath her window.

It was Isaac. He walked with a bouncing step, his head tilted back, face angled towards the sunlight. The wind rippled through his hair. Broad-shouldered and handsome, he made Charlotte’s heart ache.

The cards predicted love for me, she thought, a flash of panic rushing through her.

But Sybella never said whether those cards meant that I will be loved in return.

She only said that they meant I would fall in love.

Perhaps I am doomed to unrequited love. And if the cards are right about that, what about the third one?

The Jack? It meant tragedy, so what waits for me?

She shuddered, pressing back against the wall. Isaac had changed his clothes, she noticed, and was now wearing black velvet and a red silk waistcoat underneath. Devil colors.

Madeline shifted beside her, peering down at him.

“Is that he?” she asked, sounding rather surprised.

Charlotte forced a smile. “Yes, that is the Duke of Arkley. He insists on my calling him Isaac. I suppose it’s right, as we are engaged to be married. Tomorrow, I’ll be his wife. Lord, what a strange thought that is.”

Madeline chuckled. She seemed rather impressed by Isaac, watching him closely until he strode out of view around the corner of the house. Charlotte imagined that he had gone for a short walk and was now entering the house again.

“He’s very handsome,” Madeline said at last. “You’ll look well together, the two of you.”

Charlotte managed a feeble smile in response.

“If you say so. Well, I suppose I ought to introduce you to him.”

Horror crossed Madeline’s face. “Must I?”

Charlotte smiled a little more sincerely this time and climbed up from the window seat.

“Yes, my dear, I’m afraid you must. Come along, I promise he won’t bite. Well, probably not, anyway.”