Page 8 of The Virgin Duchess (Unwanted Brides #2)

Chapter Five

T he evening came as it always did, but the entire day had dragged on for Charlotte, and she was on edge before her husband even arrived at her room. He’d been cordial at dinner, keeping himself in check as his sister, Rose, was there. However, the moment she’d fled back to her room, Frederick had announced that he would be paying her a visit to play a hand of piquet.

She was plenty aware of the game and had played it before. Still, it was such a strange choice in activity, especially considering that the goal of these nights spent together was to get her into his bed.

Why am I still waiting?

She sat on the edge of her bed as she had the night before, and Charlotte’s nerves wound themselves into knots just as they had before, too. Frederick hadn’t said a word about their conversation, and he’d been out the entire length of the day. It was as if nothing had transpired between them before his departure.

It was infuriating.

Knock, knock, knock.

Standing up, Charlotte chose to go to the door this time, allowing her husband entrance on her terms. It was a small act of defiance against her many larger ones. However, it still made Charlotte feel just a hair better about the situation she’d found herself in.

“Your Grace,” she bowed her head as she greeted him at the door, “shall we be playing your little game then?”

Frederick smirked, his eyes narrowing slightly. “Indeed. Though, I thought perhaps you might appreciate the addition of another rule.”

He stepped past her into the room and went directly to the little table that the servants had brought in earlier. Frederick took a seat, and Charlotte fought the urge to grumble as she shut the door and walked over to him.

“Oh, and what would that be?”

It was impossible for Charlotte to keep the venom from her tone, and though she understood that it was not particularly wise to enrage her husband, seeing Frederick bristle slightly made the risk well worth it.

“When a hand is won, the winner may ask the loser a question.” Frederick gestured to the seat across from him, his fingers effortlessly manipulating the cards to shuffle them. “You are allowed to ask whatever you wish, but the loser is allowed to answer vaguely should they feel uncomfortable.”

Charlotte studied him, raking her stare over the man’s tight posture. He looked utterly put together. There wasn’t a single hair out of place, and she sensed nothing from his expression aside from the typical exaggerated charm and a general curiosity.

She would have paid good money to see inside the Duke’s head, which, seeing as that was most impossible, the game would have to do.

“Very well.” Charlotte sat down across from Frederick. “Shall we cut to see who deals?”

A sly chuckle left him, and she glared. “No need, dear wife. I will claim the first deal.”

Working to keep her expression stoic, Charlotte settled into her chair, waiting for the hands to be dealt. She was actually quite good at cards, and piquet was one of the many that she played on a regular basis after Selena had introduced the group to it. The Dowager Duchess of Soulden was always so enraptured by the latest trends from France, and the game was a staple there.

Even Magnus had taken a liking to it as well, and they had been known to keep each other up through the short hours of the evening, playing round after round.

When the cards were ready, Charlotte picked up her hand as the elder and looked over the contents, arranging them. She would take all five from the available cards in the center, leaving Frederick with the only option of taking up to three.

It was a classic move as the first to begin play, not allowing the other player to have as good a chance of creating a series or set.

“Taking five,” she said, discarding her cards to the side and retrieving the top five from the stack.

Frederick waited, and she glanced up to see him finishing his arrangement of the cards before saying, “Taking three.”

He set his exchanged cards to the side, picked up his new ones, and slipped them into their places in his hand. The declaration was next, and it was for her to lead as the elder hand.

“Point of six.” Charlotte had six diamonds in her hand, which had been there from the start, half of her hand already scoring.

“Equal.” Frederick’s steely gaze met hers, and Charlotte narrowed her stare, reading his slightest gestures.

“The point value is fifty-eight,” Charlotte responded, seeing who would win out on this first declaration of points.

“Good. Point value is fifty-six.”

Frederick nodded as she met his stare. He hadn’t been required to tell her the total of his own cards, only that she won the declaration of points. What was he trying to do by giving her that information?

Still, the subsequent declaration came back to her. Charlotte, unfortunately, was lacking a sequence of any kind, so she declared her set of aces instead.

“Set of three.”

“Equal.”

Charlotte was a bit surprised that they had seen two equals, but it wasn’t entirely unheard of. Still, three aces could be anything in his hand, so the points for the set would go to her.

“Aces for the set.”

Frederick nodded, the corners of his mouth turning down. “Good.”

Charlotte smiled. It was now on her to begin the tricks. She would start with her ace of diamonds, and by leading the trick, she would already claim a point. Putting the card in the center, Charlotte began the next phase. Still, she would have to wait for it to be acted on until after Frederick’s declarations.

“Sequence five.”

Charlotte was met with a tidy smirk as Frederick declared his sequence. She had none to dispute with, of course, so the score for that would go to him. However, there was the play of tricks to be dealt with now, and Frederick couldn’t play off her diamond, it seemed, choosing instead to play a nine of spades. The first trick with that would go to Charlotte.

She was winning.

Continuing on, Charlotte offered up her king of diamonds, which Frederick could also not play off of, and he instead laid a nine of hearts. The second trick would go to her as well. Starting again, Charlotte kept at the tricks, continuing to lay diamonds until it was no longer wise to use such a low card.

After the tricks were finished, they tallied up the final scores to determine the winner. Charlotte had hit two significant bonuses for the round. She’d reached thirty points before Frederick, and the point of six had gone to her. The tricks had made it a tight game, but as they reviewed the points—Frederick having brought with him a tiny notebook and pencil—it was clear who won.

“You’re the winner of round one, Charlotte. I will take your question.”

She smiled softly, raising her brows and keeping herself restrained as she asked the only question that truly mattered to her.

“What were you doing with the Baron of Halfacre?”

Clearing his throat, Frederick adjusted in his seat. He didn’t seem surprised by her question, more…uncomfortable. Charlotte knew he was hiding something, and it was impossible that Frederick’s secret was something silly or of no great concern. The way the man stiffened at the sound of the Baron’s name told Charlotte a great deal already.

“I have done nothing to the man that he does not deserve.” Frederick nodded once, sliding the cards across the table. “Your deal.”

Another round progressed, this time seeing Frederick as the winner. Charlotte was sure her husband would ask about where she was sneaking off to the night they ran into each other.

“Do you like the gardens, Charlotte? I have seen you eyeing the conservatory since you arrived.”

Her jaw dropped before she quickly snapped it shut. That was certainly not what she expected Frederick to inquire about. He was playing at more than cards with this little interrogation of his, but Charlotte wasn’t one to back down. She would answer his questions while keeping an eye out for a sudden shift in his approach.

“I do.” It was the truth, and Charlotte considered that Frederick had revealed that he’d noticed her admiring the plants. “Green things have always captured my attention. I find them…beautiful. More so than many other things.”

Frederick smiled, pleased with her answer, it seemed. It was on him to deal once again this time, and as they progressed through another hand, he came out the winner once more.

“Have you been to the Vauxhall Gardens, Charlotte? As a lover of greenery, I should expect that you would enjoy it very much.”

Charlotte stiffened. In truth, she’d wanted to go to them and asked Magnus several times to permit her to visit them. He’d refused, however, saying that they were too far a distance from the estate and in a part of town where she should not find herself.

“No.” She swallowed, arranging this next hand. “I was not permitted to visit them.”

Frederick didn’t push the matter, and it still struck Charlotte that he had yet to ask her where she had been going during the evening of their fated encounter. Worse, she wasn’t sure what that said about his current feelings about their arrangement. She had been allowed to go out when they first discussed their marriage. Would Frederick still be honoring that?

“Oh, that is quite a shame. Perhaps you will have the time to go now, seeing as you are not living with your brother anymore.”

Stumbling over her words, Charlotte chose to clam up and focus on the cards. The declarations began with Frederick, and he was forced to reveal a carte blanche. Play continued after that, and even with the bonus given to him, Charlotte still came out as the winner.

“Why do you hold the Baron in such low regard? What has he done to upset you?”

Frederick appeared more prepared for her question this time, hardly showing any emotion whatsoever as he set to dealing once more. As they collected and arranged their cards, they reached through the exchange before Frederick spoke up.

“He has done something that affects my estate.”

Charlotte paused, waiting for more. Apparently, her husband would be answering each question about the Baron as vaguely as possible indeed. She bristled, glaring across the table at him.

Still, the game proceeded through two more rounds, Frederick claiming one and her the other. He asked her about what she enjoyed most in the city, adding that he guessed it would be the drums and parties held by Amelia and the others of station in her friend group.

“I do enjoy seeing my friends, but I will confess that I prefer it when our get-togethers are kept small. I have also been to the occasional performance at the theatre. That has been my very favorite.”

Frederick seemed as tickled as ever by her answer. Still, when she again inquired about the Baron and sought to encourage the man to open up about his situation, Charlotte was shut down yet again.

That’s it. I’ve had quite enough.

Setting her cards down, Charlotte glared at her husband. “Now really. I have answered your questions quite honestly, Frederick. I have supplied details as well. And yet you continue to barely speak a response to mine. It seems hardly fair.”

There was a moment of silence, and then Charlotte watched something flicker to life behind Frederick’s eyes.

“My sincerest apologies, Charlotte. If you are displeased by my answers, I could always remove an article of clothing instead.”

She sat back in her chair, utterly shocked and blanching from her head to her feet. Holding her hand up in front of her mouth, Charlotte let out a gasp and then scoffed angrily as she slapped her hand down on the table.

“How dare you! I am a lady, Frederick Lawrence. A duchess now. I can’t believe you would suggest such a thing.”

“Apologies, Your Grace . How could I assume something so bold of you? It was my mistake.”

Frederick kept his expression as calm as ever, and it only served to infuriate Charlotte more. Her skin burned, her cheeks the worst source of the flames. She could also feel her pulse dancing in her neck. Her husband brought out the worst in her, her mind skittering between forced images of Frederick without his shirt and the furious stare he had thrown at the Baron.

You must not let him rile you so, Charlotte. Keep your head.

“I believe your attempts to continue this evening have fallen short, Frederick.” She raised her brows, keeping a calm countenance. “I am tired. Allow me to escort you to the door.”

Frederick smirked, still feeling proud of himself, no doubt. But he cleared his throat, setting down his cards and getting up from the table. As he straightened his waistcoat, her husband walked casually to the door, and Charlotte trailed behind him.

She reached for the handle as the man paused and pulled open her door. “Good night.”

Casting a glance just past her, Frederick’s stare found something that intrigued him because his brows pinched together curiously as he cocked his head.

“You have quite the collection of letters at your bedside, Charlotte.” He met her eyes again, mischief gleaming. “Does your lover have quite the thing or two to say about our marriage?”

Charlotte glared, clenching her jaw to keep herself from snapping at him. That’s precisely what Frederick wanted. Instead, she gestured out into the hallway, plastering on a dulcet smile that was too much sugar that could not hide the venom feeding it.

“I believe I said good night, Frederick.” She smiled all the more. “I shall see you tomorrow. At breakfast.”

He only grinned back at her, turning and leaving the room without another word. Charlotte closed up her room once the Duke was just past the threshold and locked her door. Fury made her blood boil, and she made quick work of getting undressed without the aid of a servant.

She would not see anyone else that evening. Charlotte had quite enough of company to last a lifetime. And it would take an act of God to get her playing piquet again.