The maid took cake orders from each of the women and placed their selections on their plates. Thereafter, she wheeled the cake cart away and waited for their next request.
It might have been the influx of sugar that did it, but their conversation became far less confrontational thereafter, which relieved Georgina immensely. When she looked at her sisters and their husbands, they all looked so in love. She was the odd one out; she didn’t have that connection with Lysander, and she never would, unless he experienced a monumental change of heart.
The afternoon passed pleasantly, and at some point, the four women left the table after devouring many cakes and mingled with the men in the room. Later, Georgina found herself alone in the corner with Emily, the sister to whom she’d always been closest.
“So?” Emily asked. “What is it like to be wed to the Duke of Windermere?”
“What do you mean?”
“You might have them fooled, but you can’t fool me. I could feel your tension back there. Something is wrong, isn’t it?”
“No, nothing is wrong.” Georgina twisted the fabric of her dress in her fingers. “Why would anything be wrong?”
“I don’t know. That’s why I’m asking. Look me in the eye, Georgie, and tell me that everything is fine with your marriage.”
Georgina looked her sister in the eye as instructed and tried to appear as genuine as possible. “Yes, everything is fine. I’m fine, and Lysander is fine, and even Mr. Squawksby is fine. I mean, it takes time to become accustomed to a new place, but he will be fine once he’s settled.”
“He’ll be fine when he’s settled, oryou’llbe fine onceyouare settled?”
“Why are you going on like this?” Georgina asked. “I know it was an unusual way for us to meet, and I was running away from one marriage only to run into another, but he was very gallant that day. He saved my life.”
“Yes, but that doesn’t mean you owe him anything.”
“I know that. He doesn’t expect anything in return for what he did.” Georgina gritted her teeth and then slackened her jaw. She brought her hands to her hips, then let them drop to her sides.
“I only want to know that he treats you well. I only know him from the day you met him, and he was rather a stern man. You know him better than I do, of course, but I worry.”
“You need not worry,” Georgina claimed. “He saved me, then married me, and now, he mostly ignores me unless I panic while swimming or Mr. Squawksby causes some havoc.”
“Panic while swimming. What do you mean?”
“Well, after what happened in Hyde Park, I thought it best that I learn to swim, and the Duke agreed to teach me.”
“We should have taught you to swim long ago,” Juliana said after eavesdropping on their conversation. “Although, then you might not be married, so I don’t know whether that would have been a good thing or not. There is something to be said for fate. There is also something to be said for a man who takes the time to teach his wife something like that.”
“Yes, but he ignores her most of the time,” Emily chirped.
“Can we please talk about something else?” Georgina asked. “This is all new for me, and I am sure it will all work itself out in time. What gossip is there in society?”
“Well,” Ava—who had also been eavesdropping—chimed in. “You won’t believe who…”
As her sister spoke, Georgina ceased listening. She was only too glad to move the subject of their conversation away from her marriage. As a young woman, she had always wished for a marriage filled with love, but that obviously wasn’t her destiny, based on the two men to whom she had been promised.
Her sisters were in love with their husbands, and their husbands were in love with them.
Georgina had dreamed of that, but that dream felt very much out of reach.
Chapter Fifteen
“Good evening, Your Grace,” Dottie said as Lysander entered the townhouse. “Might I take your coat for you?”
“Please,” Lysander said.
Since coming to the townhouse, the maid that his wife had saved had put in more effort than any maid he’d hired before. He was sure she was only doing it to keep her job, especially now that she was with child. He would speak to Georgina about it. The maid didn’t need to try so hard, even if it was welcome.
He shrugged his arms out of the sleeves as the maid took his jacket from him and hung it up.
“There is food in the kitchen,” Dottie said. “I can warm it and bring it to the drawing room, your study, or anywhere you please.”
