“I feel sure we can,” Prudence agreed. “It’s important to me too, Leonard. I want to please you.”
“And I have no doubt you will.” He cocked his head. “Where did this come from, though? This desire to please? I’m not saying you haven’t been pleasant, but this doesn’t sound that much like you.”
She smiled. “It comes of wanting you to know what I’m capable of,” she said. “I don’t like to be underestimated, so I don’t want you thinking that I can’t manage to make a good impression on the ton. I intend to walk away from this evening’s festivities with you impressed with what I’ve been able to do.”
The carriage came to a halt. She gave him a long look as the door was opened then turned and allowed herself to be helped down by the footman without waiting for him to go first.
Not a good start, Leonard thought. If anyone was paying attention, that was something that might raise an eyebrow. People would want to know why she wasn’t depending on her husband.
Or maybe they wouldn’t. As soon as he’d exited the carriage, she turned and put a hand on his arm. An excited expression tookover her features. She didn’t look like herself at all—she looked younger and merrier than he had ever seen her. “Isn’t this lovely!” she chirped. “We’re going to have the best night of our lives, aren’t we?”
It was a struggle not to laugh, but he managed it. “A very good night, I should think,” he replied. “You’re sure to catch everyone’s eye in that gown.”
She leaned close to him and whispered in his ear. “I waited to tell you this until we arrived, because you won’t get angry with me now that we’re in public, but I bought every yard of this fabric. Nobody else will wear it all season. I’ll be the only one to have so much as a scrap of it in any of my gowns. And I think it will be quite eye-catching, too. People will want to know where I got it, but I won’t tell them.”
He turned to look at her. Her eyes were sparkling. “You thought I would be angry about that?” he asked her.
“Are you not? You frequently do get angry when I spend money in ways you don’t agree with,” she pointed out.
“Well, this happens to be a way I do agree with. It’s going to make you look very good—and me by extension. I support the idea, and I think it was clever of you,” he said. “And I think you chose a wonderful fabric by the way. That color is really lovely on you.”
She flushed again. “Thank you.”
She couldn’t blush like that on command. Most of what she was doing here was performance, he was sure—the leaning in to whisper a secret, the clutching his arm as they entered the manor, the girlish smile on her face. But that blush could only be real. His compliment really had affected her. It occurred to him then to wonder how much he might be able to affect her with further things he might say and do. Could he get her to blush again?
In the foyer, they made their greetings to Lord and Lady Staffordshire and their daughter, Lady Cora, who was making her debut and would be looking for a husband of her own this season. “We must take advantage of this opportunity to get to know one another better,” Prudence said, gripping Lady Cora’s hand between both of hers. “I’m so recently married myself, and now, you’re going to be courted. It’s a very romantic time in a young lady’s life, and I’ll be interested to see how you get along and who catches your eye!”
“Thank you, Your Grace,” Lady Cora replied. “It’s a pleasure to meet you. I only hope that I do as well for myself this season as you did.”
“It’s hard to imagine anyone finding as much happiness as I have, and yet I hope the same for you,” Prudence said. “Perhaps you and I can find some more time to talk this evening, but I won’t keep you from your other guests for now.”
She pulled Leonard along, and the two of them made their way into the ballroom.
“That was quite a performance,” Leonard murmured.
“Not a performance at all,” Prudence protested. “I really do hope she’ll do well for herself. Why wouldn’t I?”
“Oh, I don’t doubt that. No, the performance I was referring to was your claim that no one could possibly find any more happiness than you have,” he told her.
Prudence smirked. “Well, that’s what we’re here to convince people of, isn’t it?” she asked. “We want everyone to think we are in the throes of unparalleled joy.”
“Very much so,” Leonard said. “I’m very happy with what you’ve done here.”
They were waylaid partway across the ballroom floor by a red-haired gentleman with an impeccably tidy mustache. “Your Grace,” he said, “a pleasure to see you here.”
“And you, Lord Battington,” Leonard said. “This is my wife, Prudence, Duchess of Desford. Prudence, the Earl of Battington is a business associate of mine.”
“It’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Lord Battington,” Prudence said, offering a curtsy. “I haven’t yet had the opportunity to get to know any of my husband’s business associates, but I know that he holds all of them in very high regard, so it’s an honor to meet you.”
“Well,” Battington said, turning to smile at Leonard. “She is a gem, Your Grace. What a fortunate match you’ve made.”
“Yes, I quite agree,” Leonard said. “I’m very lucky she was willing to accept me.”
“You know, there have been many questions surrounding your courtship,” Battington said. “No one saw it coming. No one realized you had made this connection, and then one day, we were all reading that you had been married with no courtship and no fanfare.”
“I’ve never been one for fanfare,” Leonard pointed out.
“Nor have I,” Prudence put in.“I was ever so grateful when His Grace agreed to an intimate wedding without a lot of production. Many gentlemen would have insisted on a lot of pomp and ceremony, I think, but what we had suited me perfectly.”
