“I’m starting to think your parents are related.” Scoffing, the dowager walked out of the sitting room.
“Excuse me!” Mother scraped her chair backwards and chased the dowager. “Josephine, we need to discuss what you’ve just said.”
The moment she was alone with Minnie, she sagged on the table, resting her forehead on the cold surface. “You can say it.”
Minnie gathered the cards. “What?”
“I can’t even play the most popular card game in the kingdom without causing a disaster.”
“There, there.” Minnie patted her shoulder. “It’s a matter of practice, and you excel in playing cricket, which is even more popular than whist.”
“I don’t think the dowager cares about cricket.” She sat upright. “I’m not like you. You enjoy the rules and always obey your parents. I can’t memorise rules I don’t care about, like whist’s rules.”
“Well, I have my moments of…wildness.” Minnie fiddled with the king of hearts and made it spin, balancing it on a corner.
“You? I don’t believe you. The wildest thing I’ve ever seen you doing is adding three sugars to your tea instead of one.”
She held back a comment on Minnie’s gowns. They covered her from chin to ankle and were always so dull they made her look older than she was. Minnie’s gown could use a touch of wildness.
Minnie straightened the cards, letting out a nervous chuckle. “Why don’t we take a walk in the garden?”
Esther couldn’t leave the sitting room faster. Her spirits lifted a little when she walked outside. Golden and brown leaves littered the ground, reminding her that autumn was advancing, and no suitor came forwards.
Not even Alexander. Although he’d sent her a message to thank her for the lovely time they’d shared in the garden. He’d mentioned he was busy, so perhaps he might not come to Brighton, which was a pity.
Not because she wanted to pursue him and become his duchess, but because she genuinely liked his company.
“Don’t be upset about what Grandmama said.” Minnie hooked her arm through Esther’s. “She’s bitter when it comes to whist. She takes it very seriously.”
“It’s not just that.” She exhaled. “Mother keeps comparing me with you. She says you have a secret to charm men, and she wants me to discover it.”
Minnie stiffened. “Excuse me?”
“She wants me to understand how and why you have so many suitors.”
Minnie’s chuckle sounded forced. “There’s no secret. I guess I truly enjoy being the way I am. Instead, you don’t behave naturally because you disapprove of the rules, and that makes you tense when you meet someone new.”
“You’re probably right. But then, I’m doomed to be a spinster.”
“Don’t be so pessimistic. You only need one husband, after all.” Minnie stopped at the low fence separating her garden from Alexander’s house. “Are you and the Duke of Richmond good friends?”
Her first instinct was to say yes, but maybe he didn’t consider her anything more than a passing acquaintance. “Just ordinary friends.”
“Grandmama hopes he’ll come for dinner when he’s here in Brighton. If he comes.” Annoyance crept into Minnie’s voice.
“You don’t approve?”
“I’m not particularly fond of him, that’s all. We have nothing in common.”
She fought a smile. “So you aren’t interested in him as a suitor.”
Minnie gave one last disdainful look at Alexander’s house. “He’s a duke. If he proposes, my parents will want me to accept, but if it were up to me, I wouldn’t even play whist with him.”
Esther couldn’t say she was sad to hear that.
Five
Dinner had been another disaster for Esther.
