Vanessa laughed and shook her head, but inside, she was beaming. Never had she felt so supported in all her life.
“If my mother was here,” she observed after a moment, looking away from her friends, “she would be telling me how frivolous and spoiled it is of me to spend so much on a dress.”
“Then your mother is either very foolish or very mean,” Phoebe said. “It isn’t spoiled to want to look and feel beautiful. It is showing yourself the care, love, and attention you deserve.”
“I could not agree more,” Lady Selina agreed.
Vanessa turned back to the mirror and gazed at herself once more. “I think I will take it,” she said at last, and both of her friends cheered. “We will be attending many balls and parties for the rest of the Season after all, and I will need a new gown.”
“If I have my way, you will be buying much more than one dress,” Phoebe stated, her eyes glittering. “We will be outfitting you for an entire new wardrobe.”
“Let us take it one at a time, shall we?” Vanessa suggested with a giggle. “I would not want to spend my husband’s entire fortune in one go…”
After the modiste’s, they went to the milliner’s shop because Phoebe insisted that Vanessa would need several new bonnets. “Something more modern and elegant,” she said. “Something duchess-like.”
The milliner’s was full of elaborate bonnets, and Vanessa enjoyed herself more than she thought she would trying different ones on. Some were full of peacock feathers while others had strange netting and laces on them while others still were lined with velvet or sable and would make for the fanciest winter hat she could imagine.
“What about this one?” Vanessa giggled, picking up the largest coal scuttle bonnet she had ever seen. The rigged bonnet had a very wide brim, while the back was flat, and along the sides were the most ridiculous number of tulle bows. They had been sewedall over the bonnet, connected by garlands of bright-colored flowers. All-in-all, it was the most garish bonnet imaginable, and as she put it on, she couldn’t help but laugh.
“Will I win over the Duke now?” she asked, posing for her friends in the bonnet. The moment Phoebe saw it, she burst out laughing, and even Lady Selina had to hide a smile behind her hand.
“That is hideous!” Phoebe cried. “Here—try it with this.” And she passed Vanessa a large, feathered fan that looked as if it were made from ostrich feathers.
“Imagine me flirting with the Duke like this!” Vanessa giggled. “Oh, Your Grace, how are you today?” She batted her eyelashes and waved the fan up and down to draw the eyes to her bosom although this was not possible with so many feathers in the way.
Phoebe clutched her side. “Oh my goodness! You would be the belle of the ball in such an ensemble!”
“I really do think no man would be able to resist me,” Vanessa said, smirking.
“I would be careful then,” a voice said from behind them. “I would not wish to fight other men for the affections of my wife.”
Vanessa nearly dropped the fan. She was so startled that her heart seemed to leap into her throat, and she whirled around, instinctively bringing the fan to her chest to hide her decolletage.
To her utter surprise, the Duke of Thornfield was standing right behind her, an amused—and somewhat confused—look on his face.
“Your Grace!” she cried in an entirely un-duchess way. “I mean—Duke!”
“Duchess,” he replied, nodding at her. “And you are here with Miss Redding and Lady Selina Wexford. It is a pleasure to see both of you ladies.”
Vanessa glanced over her shoulder and saw both her friends curtsy. Miss Redding looked as surprised as she felt, but Lady Selina had managed to smooth her face into a neutral, polite expression.
“W-what are you doing here?” Vanessa asked, turning back to her husband. “I did not think dukes often visited milliner’s shops.”
“No, we do not often,” Winston confirmed. “But I was looking for you, and the butler informed me that you had gone shopping with these two ladies. I have been to half the modistes in London, I daresay, trying to find you. But the last one I went to said you had just been there, and the kind woman who works there sent me in this direction.”
“You were looking for me?” Vanessa repeated dumbly. “Why?”
Winston smiled slightly. “Can a husband not go in search of his wife? And I am very glad I did. If I had not showed up, you might actually have purchased this very peculiar ensemble, and then I am not sure you would have to worry about men resisting you.”
Vanessa half-laughed, half-choked at his words, and behind her, she heard Phoebe snigger. When she turned back to her friends, Phoebe gave her a meaningful look.
“We will be in the shop next door looking at gloves,” she said, “if you and His Grace care to join us later. Good day, Your Graces.”
She and Lady Selina left the shop together, and Vanessa was sure she heard them giggling as they went out. Taking a deep breath, she turned back to her husband.
“I was not actually planning to purchase,” she said, a little waspishly. “I know that it is very silly.”
“It is silly,” he replied, his dark eyes sparkling slightly, “but you still look good in it. I believe you would look good in anything you wore.”
