“I am, more so than you,” Fredrick replied. “But that is because I inherited father’s quick wit.”
Octavia rolled her eyes. “I am far funnier than you. Everyone has told me so.”
“Who is ‘everyone’?” Fredrick inquired.
“Lucy at the flower shop, Sarah at the milliner shop, Melinda at Gunter’s—”
Fredrick cut her off. “Are any of these real people?” he asked with suspicion in his voice.
“They are real people, but they may not recall telling me that I am funnier than you, so you shouldn’t bother asking them,” Octavia responded.
“You are a terrible liar,” Fredrick teased. “You might just want to stick to knitting reticules.”
A footman placed a plate of food in front of Octavia and she reached for a fork and knife. “We are being terribly rude to our guest,” she said.
Ruth perked up in her seat. “I am just enjoying theconversation. It has been rather lonely at William’s townhouse.”
“You mean ‘your townhouse,’” Octavia corrected.
“Well, technically, it is Lord Kendal’s townhouse but he is gracious enough to let me reside there until William finds a place for us to live,” Ruth said.
“He is a kind man,” Octavia stated.
Ruth nodded in agreement. “That he is. He has shown far more concern about my well-being than my own husband.” Her eyes grew wide. “I do apologize. I shouldn’t complain so.”
“Will you stop apologizing?” Octavia asked. “There is no judgment here. Sometimes you must complain so you can move on.”
“I am so grateful to have a friend such as you,” Ruth said.
Octavia offered her a kind smile. “We ladies have to stick together if we want to take over the world one day.”
Fredrick huffed. “Do you think before you speak?”
“I do, and my mind approves,” Octavia replied. “Why can’t women take over the world? We populate it.”
Shifting in his seat to face Ruth, Fredrick said, “Now it is my turn to apologize. My sister might be inebriated at this early hour. For that is the only thing that would explain her behavior.”
Ruth let out a snort of laughter and her hands flew up to cover her reddening cheeks. “I can’t believe I just did that.”
“Do not concern yourself,” Fredrick said. “Octavia has been known to snort a time or two when she laughs really hard.”
“It is true,” Octavia agreed. “That is when I know a joke is truly amusing.”
Ruth lowered her hands as she admitted, “The girls at my boarding school weren’t as understanding as you two. They used to say that I sounded like a pig when I snorted.”
“That is awful,” Octavia said.
“They would take table scraps from our meals and pilethem onto my bed. They said if I acted like a pig then I should eat like a pig,” Ruth revealed.
Octavia placed her fork down and reached for Ruth’s hand. “What they did to you was cruel and wrong.”
“My father just told me to grin and bear it since it was such a distinguished boarding school,” Ruth said. “But sometimes, I didn’t want to grin and bear it. I wanted to fight back, but I was afraid of being kicked out.”
“That is over and done with now. You are stronger now because of it,” Octavia encouraged as she released Ruth’s hand.
“You are kind, but I do intend to start fighting back now,” Ruth said.
“Good,” Octavia praised. “Do you intend to engage in fisticuffs or words?”
