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“Something of an irony, wouldn’t you say, when it’s the very essence of what a man and a woman do together when the moon is high in the sky and a man’s body is on fire.”
“And hopefully a woman’s too, Bertram.” Fanny said, warningly. “I hope you ensure that’s the case every time. Now go! Right, my dear Thea,” Fanny said, once it was just the three of them. “I don’t know if you’ve ever experimented with the way your body feels when it’s touched a certain way…?” She looked enquiringly at her cousin, who simply looked blank.
Antoinette squealed, “Dear Lord, can she really be related to us?”
“Now, now, Antoinette, there was no call for that. It just means that Thea will find herself completely overwhelmed when she allows herself to relax a little more with Mr Grayling, and if he happens to be sufficiently encouraged to be allowed a little licence to be…exploratory.”
Thea bit her lip and closed her eyes. “I couldn’t possibly,” she whispered. “Not if you’re talking about things that only married people can do. And even then a woman has to steel herself to…”
“To what, Cousin Thea?” Antoinette whispered. “Allow him to lie next to her, to feel the line of his muscled thigh as it tapers up to his manly buttocks and, oh, my dear, you really do need to find out what else a well-endowed gentleman has in store for you.”
Fanny took Thea’s hands in hers and began to chafe them as she directed a fond look into her cousin’s eyes. “No need to look so horrified. You don’t have to do anything you’re not comfortable with. All we’re saying is that Mr Grayling is actively seeking a wife who will love him with a little passion. Try not to be too buttoned-up, is really what I mean. Sink into his embrace and let his hands stroke you into wondrous pleasure. That’s my main advice to you.”
“Stroke me?” Thea shook her head as she experimentally held out her arms and began to stroke one with the other. “It is a very pleasant sensation,” she said dubiously.
“Not there!”
Fanny stifled her amusement at the shock on Thea’s face when Antoinette twisted round and clapped her hand to her cousin’s breast.
“There!”
“Surely not!”
Thea jerked away and Antoinette dropped her hand, giving her a quick embrace. “I can assure you, it doesn’t feel the same way when the hand belongs to a very handsome, desirable gentleman.”
Thea dropped her eyes to her hands, now clasped demurely in her lap, and mumbled, “Aunt Minerva will make absolutely certain I’m never placed in such a situation.”
Antoinette sighed. “Then we shall just have to ensure that you are, Cousin Thea, if you are to have any pleasure in this world.”
Thea’s head snapped up. “I’m sorry to be a disappointment, but I’m not pleasure-seeking at the cost of long-term future happiness, Cousin Antoinette.” She sighed and her shoulders slumped, though she managed a wavering smile. “Please don’t be cross or frustrated with me. We’re very different. I just couldn’t bear to tarnish my dear mama and papa’s memories with behaviour they’d consider lax or improper.”
Fanny tried to think of a suitable response. Thea’s intractability could be more of a problem than she’d thought. “An honourable marriage—and a happy one—should be a young woman’s greatest pursuit, for it is through her ability to control her husband that she gains power.”
Thea blinked as if this was a surprise, and Fanny let out her breath in a heartfelt sigh. “The world is vastly unfair to women. We are completely beholden to our closest male relative or anyone else who can provide a meagre living and who manipulates the purse strings so that we perform just as they would wish.” She brushed Thea’s cheek with the back of her hand and felt a genuine rush of tenderness for the girl whose innocence and determination to do what was right was so different from Fanny’s.
“I don’t want to lead you astray, Cousin Thea, or to contradict any of the good advice you’ve been given by your worthy late parents, but just think on this: What do you think would most please them if they could look down upon you from the heavens above? To see you ten years from now—perhaps even twenty or thirty if Aunt Minerva lives to a great age—pandering to her every whim, rubbing her swollen limbs, bearing the lash of her tongue? For that will be your lot if you don’t have the courage to take a stand for your own happiness.”
Thea looked close to tears. “But I can’t compromise myself in my pursuit of happiness.”
“You can at least be clever about it,” Antoinette all but snapped. Clearly she was not as sympathetic and understanding of her cousin’s conflicts as Fanny was. “What Fanny’s saying is that if you don’t let Mr Grayling kiss and fondle you at least a little bit so he can reassure himself that you’re not going to lead him into such unhappiness as his awful late French wife, you’ll be looking after Aunt Minerva for the rest of your life.” She sniffed. “And under such circumstances, I’d wager she’d outlive you, too!” she added with venom.
Thea covered her eyes and let out a whimper while Fanny put her arms around her. “There, there, no need to cry about it. Who knows what the future will bring? All we’re saying is that it might be a good idea—if the opportunity presented itself—to be a little more relaxed and to take perhaps just a little risk in order to reassure Mr Grayling that you do in fact like him. I doubt Miss Huntingdon would have slapped his face if she’d been in you
r situation.”
“She wouldn’t?” Thea’s mouth dropped open, then she said as if in explanation, “But she comes with a dowry and not a hint of scandal has ever attached to her name.”
Fanny frowned. “Are you suggesting you’re behaving with even more circumspection than you otherwise might because you’ve heard that Antoinette and I were somewhat daring in our pursuit of happiness?” She couldn’t help bristling. “Have we somehow tainted you with our liberality?”
“Oh no, no, Cousin Fanny, that’s not it at all,” Thea hastily assured her. “I just want to be careful. Mr Grayling is the first gentleman—dashing gentleman, that is, because the curate doesn’t really count, if one is only counting handsome gentlemen with the means to keep a wife—who’s shown the slightest bit of interest, and I can’t bear the thought it might only be on account of him thinking he can take advantage.”
“Well, let him!” cried Antoinette. “Let him take at least some advantage so he comes back desperate for more. Make him desire you so much that he can’t live without you!”
“But only as his wife, dearest Thea,” Fanny added with a cautionary look at her sister. “Respectable marriage is all that we’re advocating as the end result. It’ll just require a bit more encouragement from you than a slap across the face if he ever is brave enough to try to kiss you again.”
It was hard to tell what impact her words had on Thea but Fanny was a little more relieved by the flare of bravado reflected in the girl’s eyes by the time they rose to bid each other good night.
Chapter 9
