Ice Cold Duke (Frigid Dukes #2)

Chapter 7

Chapter Seven

“ W e should go shopping today,” Emery announced, startling the three young ladies that were sitting at the breakfast table, politely and quietly eating their breakfasts. It was the morning after Emery’s first night in her new home, and she was done sulking about the horrible marriage fate had dealt her. She was ready to start preparing for the London Season that had been denied her so long. On top of which, the butler had informed her on her way to breakfast that the Duke had left early, which meant she had the entire day free and wanted to make the most of it.

At her words, all three sisters looked up at her, surprise etched on their faces. Leah was the first to recover.

“Shopping?” she asked doubtfully, glancing at the window, against which rain was splattering. “But it is such a miserable day… We could catch cold.”

“That’s your brother talking,” Emery said, shaking her head impatiently. “Ladies go out when it is raining all the time. Anyway, it is not as if we will be standing in the rain for long periods of time. We will be in the carriage on the way to the modiste, then inside, then back here. All in all, you will spend only a few seconds out in the rain.”

“But shopping is so extravagant,” Leah protested. “Why should we go shopping when we already have everything we need?”

“I would like to go shopping,” Eve said, looking as if she could hardly contain her excitement. “I’ve never been! Usually, Lucien has the modiste come here to fit me for my gowns, but it’s never anything new or exciting. Just the standard walking dress, riding habit, evening gown… and he never lets me pick out the colors of the materials!”

“Lucien is just trying to be practical and economic,” Leah reminded her sister gently. “With three sisters to marry, he cannot spend all of his money on the more… frivolous side of gowns. Especially when they are not having a Season.”

Eve crossed her arms, looking disappointed, and sat back in her chair. Celeste, meanwhile, was watching Emery closely.

“You’ve been here less than twenty-four hours, and you’re already stirring up trouble,” she said quietly to Emery, who smiled and winked at her.

“I’ve spent far too much of my life not stirring up trouble,” she murmured back. “It is far past time that I begin.”

Turning to Leah, Emery said, “I agree that money should be spent prudently. But you are to have your debut this Season in London. And from what your brother told me yesterday, we are due to leave for the city imminently. Which means that it is prudent to begin outfitting you for the upcoming Season. You cannot expect to stand out from the crowd and find a good match if you are not wearing the latest and most fashionable designs. In fact, he really should have started ordering your wardrobe months ago! We are running out of time, which makes going to the modiste today also very prudent.”

Leah looked convinced, and when Emery glanced at Celeste, she sent her another wink. Celeste looked away, smiling.

“You know so much!” Eve said, her eyes wide. “Did you have a marvelous London Season yourself?”

“Oh no,” Emery said, shaking her head. “My parents never let me attend the Season. They said it was too expensive, and since I already had a fiancé…” There was an awkward pause as they all remembered exactly who Emery had been engaged to, but she pushed past it. “However, I was always obsessed with the idea of it. I would read all the gossip columns, all the ladies’ journals with tips for how to stand out or make it the best Season, study all the fashion plates, and make my best friend tell me everything she’d learned. So, you’re in luck, Leah. In fact, you’re all in luck. Because when it comes to the London Season, I am an expert.”

She grinned at Leah, who smiled back at her tentatively.

“I supposed it would be nice to have a new ball gown,” Leah said, biting her lip. “I haven’t had anything exciting to wear in years…”

“It isn’t just nice, it is imperative,” Emery declared.

“What about me?” Eve asked at once. “Can I have a new ball gown, too?”

Emery laughed. “Well, considering you are not yet out, I do think a ball gown would be a bit of an extravagance. But what if we got you a new pair of gloves and a nice pelisse?”

“Oooh, yes please!” Eve gushed. “Lucien always says that I can make do with what I have.”

“And I’m sure he meant well by that,” Emery forced herself to say, “but he is not a woman, and he does not understand what is needed to stay in the height of women’s fashion. Which is something that will be expected of all of you, as the sisters of a Duke. The worst thing you can imagine would be to show up in London looking as if your brother didn’t spend a fortune on your wardrobe. It would be said he was penniless, or else that he didn’t care about your future and finding you a good husband. Believe me, I’ve seen it before.” She shuddered as she remembered the way the gossip columns had skewered the Duke of Rhinebeck for his failure to outfit his daughter properly three years ago.

“Then I think we must go to the modiste,” Celeste said, a coy smile on her lips. “To avoid scandal, of course.”

Emery winked again as Leah smiled and Eve clapped her hands together in glee. “Oh, we must.”

Emery had never had so much fun shopping her whole life. Every time she’d gone before, it had been with her mother, who, like Lucien with his sisters, would only let her buy the most practical, unadorned, simple dresses possible.

Lady Hillsborough was a spendthrift, and while Emery understood the importance of not wasting money, she wished that her mother had, at least once, indulged her. She was a young woman, after all, trying to discover her beauty and style, and her mother had never understood that.

“Why do you need beauty and style when you already have a husband lined up for you? A good, handsome, rich husband?” her mother had scolded her when she’d cried after visiting the modiste when she was eighteen. Lady Hillsborough had just told her she wouldn’t be attending the Season with Georgina, and her heart had been broken.

She was thinking about this when Leah emerged from the fitting room at the modiste wearing the most beautiful gown of rose-colored pink taffeta, her cheeks and eyes glowing with joy.

“Oh my goodness, Leah!” Emery gushed, the moment she saw her sister-in-law. “You look absolutely stunning!”

“Everyone will want to marry you!” Eve added, running over to her and taking her hands in hers. “You look so beautiful!”

“Do I really?” Leah asked, laughing and blushing as she swished her skirts. “I do feel rather pretty…” she said this as if it were something she was afraid to admit, and Emery beamed at her.

“You are very pretty,” she said, and Leah laughed again.

“Absolutely lovely,” Celeste said, standing from where she had been sitting and reading in the corner, soft affection shinning in her eyes for her sister.

“Oh, can I get a dress too?” Eve asked, turning to Emery with big, hopeful eyes. “Pleeeease? I want to look as beautiful as Leah!”

Emery laughed and put her arms around Eve. “Alright,” she said, hugging her close. “Why not? Every young lady should have at least one dress that makes her feel beautiful.”

She glanced at Celeste, who was watching all this cautiously. “Would you like one too, Celeste?”

Shyly, Celeste nodded. “If it really isn’t too much of an expense.”

“Don’t worry about that,” Emery said, although she did feel a slight tug of worry. She hadn’t expressly asked Lucien how much she could spend on dresses, and she didn’t want to spend too much.

However, he had told her that he wanted her to accompany his sisters to the modiste and he hadn’t told her there were any restrictions on price. And these girls deserved to be taken to an expensive modiste and find beautiful things. Not only that, but it filled Emery with a feeling of freedom and joy to see them all so happy.

“Lucien will not approve of this dress,” Leah said as she admired herself in the mirror, turning back and forth to get a good look at herself. “It is far too revealing.”

“This style is very popular in France right now,” Emery said, looking at the modiste to back her up. “I remember it from the plates I studied when I was ordering my wedding gown.”

“Indeed, it is, Your Grace,” the modiste said, nodding fervently. “The cut is, perhaps, tighter and lower than what some of the more modish fashion houses in London prefer, but both will mark you as a sophisticated and modern young woman looking for a forward-thinking husband.”

“I don’t think Lucien wants us to look modern or sophisticated,” Leah said, looking doubtfully at Emery. “And he certainly doesn’t want us marrying forward-thinking husbands!”

“I would encourage you to think about what you want,” Emery said decisively, meeting Leah’s gaze. “Not what your brother wants. This is your life and your marriage. I wasted way too many years avoiding saying what I wanted because it might cause conflict, or letting my parents decide for me because I wanted to be agreeable and dutiful, and I’ll regret that for the rest of my life. Because of it, there isn’t a single thing in my life that I chose for myself. Everything else was chosen for me. And I will not allow--”

Emery cut herself off. Her voice had been getting louder and louder, her breathing had been becoming more labored, and she had been on the verge of becoming hysterical. Other patrons in the shop were even starting to stare, and her three sisters-in-law were certainly gaping at her.

She forced herself to take a deep breath, and when she spoke again, it was in a normal, measured tone of voice.

“I merely hope that you can learn from my mistakes. You don’t have to do anything drastic. I just want you to think of what it is you most desire and be true to yourself. Don't be like your brother: don’t be so focused on what you think you should do that you forget to do what you actually want.”

The girls all nodded. Eve looked a bit awe-struck, Celeste a little sad, and Leah thoughtful. Emery decided not to say anything more on the subject, and the rest of the visit followed without incident. It was only after they’d finished placing their orders and paid the bill and were on their way out the door that Leah caught up to Emery.

“You know, you shouldn’t judge my brother too harshly,” Leah said under her breath, so her sisters wouldn’t hear, as she followed Emery to the door. “I know that he can be a little rigid, but there are things about him you don’t understand.”

Emery glanced at Leah in surprise, then pushed open the door. The sound of the bell chimed as they stepped out through it and onto the street.

“What kinds of things?” she asked, but Leah shook her head.

“It’s not really my place to talk about it,” she said, “but I just want you to know that the only reason he is so intent on following rules is to protect us from the world, not to make us miserable. He does love us dearly. Sometimes I wish he cared about himself nearly as much, in fact.”

Emery considered this. “That’s all very well and good,” she said, “but he should be asking you what you want, not just blindly trying to protect you. That’s just patronizing.”

Leah smiled. “Well, I suppose he is our patron. And our patriarch. But yes, my brother is not perfect. But he is also a good person, and he wouldn’t be so rigid if he didn’t truly believe it was the best way to keep his family safe.”

“And you can’t tell me why you're saying this?” Emery asked. “It would be helpful to have some insight into the way he is.”

Leah gave her a cheeky smile. “I suggest you ask him. It’s not my place to tell his secrets.”

Emery smiled and linked arms with Leah. “You’re right. Thank you for telling me as much as you could. I’ll take all of this into consideration.”

But it was hard for Emery to imagine ever asking the Duke for details as to why he was the most uptight, joyless, uncompromising person she’d ever met. And after the London Season, what was the point? She wouldn’t be seeing him again after that.