She still felt she’d done the right thing. And she felt more than up to the task of marrying the Duke. But she would greatly miss her sisters. And she would worry a great deal about them, being so far away.
“You will be just fine,” she replied with a conviction she did not feel. “You will be strong and brave. And you’ll have each other. That will help.”
“But it shall not be the same without you,” Valery spoke up for the first time, a sign that something was definitely wrong, as she was usually the last to stop speaking rather than the last to start. “And whatever will Philip say when he returns home and finds you gone?”
“I am sure Mother and Father will write to him and tell him of this joyous news,” Diana replied wryly.
If Philip were here would this be happening? Would he have allowed any of his sisters to be married off to the Duke? Diana did not think so. He would have attempted to thwart their parents’ plans, though perhaps with a bit more tact than she had.
“Let’s not dwell on it. The Duke shall return and stake his claim soon enough. In the meantime, let us think of happier things. And let us enjoy these days together.”
“What shall we do?” Arabella asked.
They were all silent for a long moment.
“We’ll have Cook make us sugar biscuits for our tea, and then we shall go riding. It’s a lovely day out, and we should take advantage of it,” Marigold announced decisively.
Diana couldn’t help but laugh. “That sounds lovely.”
“Perhaps being married shall not be so horrendous, after all,” Arabella piped up again as they headed toward the kitchens. “You know, the Duke is quite a dashing gentleman, and he’s near your age. Lucille married a man who is practically her father’s age!”
“Indeed, I am lucky to have found a husband near my age,” Diana agreed, though she wasn’t entirely sure that made any difference at all in this situation.
“And perhaps you will come to care for one another.” The stars were back in Arabella’s eyes, a soft smile spreading across her lips. “A dashing young gentleman and a lovely young lady at odds with one another marry and then fall madly and hopelessly in love.”
Diana couldn’t help but burst into laughter at the very thought of it.
“Oh, Arabella, you are ever the romantic. Would that it were possible, but I very much doubt that the Duke and I shall be spending much time together, married or not. And there shall be no occasion for us to fall in love, madly and hopelessly or otherwise.”
“But what if itwereto happen?”
“Promise me that you will never lose that optimism, no matter how old you get,” Diana replied with a smile, and the other two girls also offered small, though somewhat sad, smiles.
“And you shall be a duchess, after all. Isn’t that romantic?” Arabella continued as if her sister hadn’t spoken.
Diana shook her head. “Being a duchess means very little. It’s a fancy title that impresses some people, but I don’t care much for it. Especially when it means I shall be saddled with a husband such as the Duke of Cardan.”
“Shall you call him ‘’ the Duke after you are wed?” Valery asked.
Diana’s eyes widened in surprise. “Well… I don’t suppose I know what I shall call him… Perhaps I shall.”
“Mother calls Father by his name,” Marigold supplied.
“Yes, well, Mother and Father consider themselves as equals, and I find it hard to believe that the Duke shall feel the sameabout me. And besides, even if he did prefer it… I do not know his name.”
Diana tried to think of anything she had heard of the Duke before today, but there was very little. And his given name… Well, she didn’t know anyone who was close enough to her betrothed or was given leave to use his Christian name.
“No matter,” Marigold replied. “You shall have a great deal to do in getting the household in order and will no doubt not have time for him anyway.”
They all laughed at that, and Diana shook her head again.
“I am certain he has servants who manage the household well enough.”
“Well enough for the Duke, perhaps. But is it managed well enough for you?”
“We shall have to wait and see.”
By then, they had reached the kitchen to find that Cook was already preparing sugar biscuits.
