“Well, the dogs do not seem to be doing much good at picking up a scent, and we are not going to find anything with the rest of the party making so much noise,” she pointed out.
“Hmm, I know. I half wonder if they were making so much noise for your sake.”
“My sake?” She turned abruptly on her heel, her jaw slackening as Stephen caught up with her.
“They do not know you as I do. They do not know that you can shoot probably better than any of them.”
“Another compliment?” She arched her eyebrows. “That’s two on this trip. You must be in a benevolent mood.”
“No compliment.” He shook his head. “It is merely a fact. Yet, they seem to be making noise to keep the animals away, do they not? They probably fear you’ll get yourself in some trouble. It comes from an attempt at care, even if they’re ignorant.” Then, he walked past her.
“What is this about everyone believing women are so weak?” Dorothy huffed, following behind him with the beagles at her heels.
“Not every man thinks that.”
“No? You think not? Coming from the duke who says he wants a duchess as quiet as a mouse.”
“We are not having this conversation again,” Stephen said dismissively.
“Whyever not? I think it a fascinating discussion!” Dorothy declared dramatically, hurrying to walk beside him. One of the dogs picked up a scent and ran off ahead, with the other one hastening behind him. “You declare not to think me part of the weaker sex, but you act like it.”
He looked horrified, his eyes widening as he came to a stop and glowered at her. “I have never said that,” he hissed, his anger plain. “When have I ever told you that you are weak?”
“You did not need to. You simply act like it and order me around.”
“Order!?” he spluttered.
“Is this what you will do with your meek wife, too?”
“I will not give orders. I do not.”
Stephen looked panicked, crimson covering the tops of his cheeks. It was so rare to see him lose his cool completely that Dorothy took great delight in it.
Smiling, she decided to push him as far as she could, just to see his reaction.
“You ordered me to have a more practical approach to marriage. You ordered me back to the picnic yesterday.”
“Irequested.”
“You ordered me not to wear breeches anymore.”
“Good God, Dorothy.” He sighed loudly and turned in a circle, scratching the back of his neck in that all-so-familiar way. “Did you not see the way the stable hands were looking at you?”
“What?”
“Clearly, you have no idea what interests men.” He threw the words more at the trees than at her, seriously angry now. “They could not stop gawping at you.”
“Why?”
“Are you blind?” he hissed, turning back to her angrily and storming toward her. She backed up, dangerously close to the river, though she managed to stop herself from falling into it. “You wore breeches that fitted every part of your figure, and you ask me why men were staring at you?” His eyes had grown impossibly wide. “You are a woman now, and many men have noticed.”
“You have noticed, it seems.” It was as if she had struck him with the words. He backed up, increasing the distance between them, slowly. “You noticed men staring at me, I mean.”
“Yes, I did.” He nodded firmly, scratching his neck. “I advised your brother that you shouldn’t wear those breeches because it isn’t right that men gawp at you in such a way. Better to reveal yourself to a man of your choosing, rather than any man that walks past you, Dorothy.”
Dorothy’s jaw slackened. Unsure what to make of this, she continued to stare, then noticed something that made her stomach flutter. Stephen’s eyes were no longer on her face. He was looking at her lips.
Wait… how much has he noticed that I am a woman now?
