“Oh. But I’m not the pretty one, that’s Deb!” she protested.
“You don’t have to be beautiful for a man to find you desirable.”
“No?”
Daphne shook her head. “Physical attraction is governed by more than symmetry of features.”
“But it surely helps?” Sarah thought of her infatuation with the duke, provoked almost entirely, originally, by his considerable good looks. She was beginning to feel very shallow.
“Certainly. One has to find the other person desirable, and beauty can enhance that likelihood, but there is a factor that cannot be calculated for, an instinctive thing.” Daphne flushed again. “It can overwhelm one in an instant and be very powerful, and have nothing whatever to do with the other person’s appearance.”
“Oh.” Sarah considered that moment in the duke’s arms when she felt that rush of warmth, that instant of soul connection. And then moments later, the rising desire that made her want to do wicked things. She still wasn’t sure what those things were really, she only knew the feel of his body pressed against hers had made her frantic for something more. More kisses, more touches, more of his hard heat and something to assuage the aching tingle between her legs.
She began to understand that if she felt that way it was not beyond the realm of possibility that the duke felt the desire toputsomething between her legs. She flushed all over with that notion. That hot, hard something she’d felt pressing into her belly.
“Thank you, Daphne, I think I understand a little better now.” She sank back against the pillows. “But does any of this have anything to do with love?”
“In the best of all possible worlds, yes, but regrettably it often does not. At least not for gentlemen. Men,” said Daphne with emphasis, “require regular release and will often seek it wherever it is available. Emotions frequently play little to no part in that process. That is why many gentlemen keep a mistress, for that very purpose.”
“I–I see. Does the duke have a—”
“Mistress? I believe so. She is rumored to have a house in Clarges Street, paid for by the duke naturally. Her name, I understand, is Madeleine.”
“Do married gentlemen keep a mistress also?”
“Some do, some don’t.”
“I see.”
“Don’t ask him, my dear. It’s not the done thing for a wife to acknowledge that she knows about her husband’s mistress.”
“And yet the wife is expected to tolerate this?”
“Yes. In marriages of convenience, it is quite common for both partners to seek pleasure outside the marriage, once the wife has done her duty of course.”
“Her duty?”
“Ensured the succession.”
“I see,” Sarah clenched her hands on the sheet. He had offered her a marriage of convenience—in his own words!He no doubt assumed I knew what that meant!
“I only tell you this to save you from the shock later, should it turn out that the duke...”
“Yes, I see. Thank you, Daphne,” said Sarah, her voice shaking. “I cannot believe that Papa keeps a mistress.”
“Oh, I shouldn’t think so. He is a man of the cloth, after all, and a devout one. He is quite devoted to your mother.” Daphne patted her hand. “It is much more common among the upper classes, where the gentlemen can afford it. Keeping a mistress is expensive.”
“Expensive.”
“Yes, there is the house, servants, a carriage, clothes, jewelry, all paid for by the woman’s protector. But I shouldn’t think it is something you need concern yourself about in the immediate future, Sarah. The duke strikes me as the sort of man who will keep his vows at least until he has an heir and the succession is properly secured. By that time, you may have snared him deeply enough that he won’t stray at all.”
“But if he still has a mistress now?”
“That is only a rumor, I don’t know if it is true.”
“It is a quite specific and detailed rumor for an untruth.”
“For all I know, he may have given her up. Given her a congé.”
