“You are not naive,” Lady Selina argued. “Look at everything you went through with Lord Langdon. I think what Phoebe is trying to say is that the sunshine in you, the lightness, must be very appealing for a man who has spent so much of his life in darkness.”
Suddenly, his words came back to her:You need not stay in the darkness with me. You are a duchess now, and you ought to shine.
Was it possible that the fact she was so different from him made them good together? That she complemented him?
“But how do I get him to see that?” she asked. “How do I ascertain what his feelings are for me? I am not at all certain of what he feels for me. For all I know, he still hopes for us to lead separate lives.”
“But he has been so tender with you,” Lady Selina pointed out.
“He has sent her mixed signals,” Phoebe explained. “Yes, he cooked for her, but he still has not kissed her or asked for them to be more intimate.”
“But the night we spent together in the inn, I woke up with him curled around me,” Vanessa said. Even speaking of it now, she felt her whole body hum with desire. That had been one of the most pleasurable and confusing moments of her entire life.
“Maybe you should try to be more romantic and flirtatious,” Phoebe suggested. “Maybe he is scared of showing his affection, but if he sees that you are interested, he will know that he is safe to express how he feels.”
“That is not a bad idea,” Lady Selina decided, sounding intrigued. “The Duke has always struck me as a recalcitrant person. He keeps his cards close to his chest. In order to show them, he will need some encouragement.”
“But how do I do that?” Vanessa asked, looking desperately between her friends. “I do not know how to be flirtatious or to make him desire me.”
“Of course, you do!” Phoebe insisted. “Making a man desire you, and flirting with him, is all about confidence."
“Ahh, well, that is the problem,” Vanessa said gloomily. “I have no confidence. My parents made sure of that.”
“Then we shall have to find a way to instill it in you,” Phoebe declared, her eyes twinkling. “First up, I think we need to go dress-shopping.”
“What is wrong with my dress?” Vanessa asked, her stomach flipping nervously as she looked down at what she was wearing.
“Nothing,” Phoebe said. “But I am assuming that is a dress your mother picked out?”
“Yes…”
“Then that is precisely why we must get you new ones. You will feel most confident when you are in your own dresses which reflect your own style and which you purchased for yourself. You are a duchess now, not an unmarried miss, and you pick out your own wardrobe. Not your mother.”
“Yes,” Vanessa agreed. “Yes, you are right.” It was as if something had clicked in her brain. She was a married woman now, and she was not going to wear the conservative, high-necked gowns that her mother had picked out for her. She was going to find her own style and in doing so, find out what she liked and what she wanted.
Because knowing herself, she suspected, was the key to loving herself. And if she loved herself, perhaps the Duke could as well.
Chapter Nineteen
“Oh, that dress looks so charming on you!” Phoebe gushed as Vanessa stepped out from behind the curtain where the modiste had been pinning the dress for her, making sure that it fit snugly and flatteringly around her figure. “Do you like it, Vanessa? I think I have never seen anything so lovely in my life!”
“You do look very nice,” Lady Selina said, smiling serenely.
Vanessa, cheeks pink and eyes sparkling with delight at how pretty and pampered she felt, walked over to the mirror and took in the sight of herself that greeted her.
The dress she was wearing was a rich blue, almost the same color as her eyes, and was made from the finest and softest silk she had ever worn in her life. The way it fell around her made her think of a waterfall falling through a forest, the waters cascading down as the crystalline blue glinted in the sun.
That was what this dress looked like: like water sparkling in the sun. And it made her feel like the most beautiful woman of thetonwhich was not something she had ever felt before.
“I look… breathtaking,” she murmured as she gazed in wonder into the mirror. “I never thought it was possible.”
“I did,” Lady Selina said.
“So did I,” Phoebe agreed.
“And you truly think this dress will capture the Duke’s eye?” Vanessa asked.
Phoebe laughed. “I think it is the look on your face that will capture him: the look that says,I know I am beautiful and that I am worthy of being loved.”
