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“They plan to come tomorrow, just for a few days.”
Michael simply nodded. “You and Kitty will be coming to the duchess’s ball then?”
“We will,” Joseph replied. “It seems as though you will need the morale support.”
* * *
Face down in her pillow, sleep evaded her. She stared at the hem on the sheet, or the wall beyond, in between forcing her eyes shut. When the door popped open, Trinity slipped into her bed.
“Not asleep?” she asked.
“No, I’m not,” Lydia whispered.
“I haven’t been able to talk to you about what really happened at Marigold,” Trinity said in a low voice. “I burned your letters like you asked. But you did not write much about the last few days. What happened?”
She was quiet for a moment, before deciding to confess to her. “You know how suitors might try to give you a quick kiss, when no one is looking?”
“Sure, even the marquess has stolen a few,” she admitted. “Did the duke kiss you?”
“More than just kiss.”
“What do you mean?” she gasped. “Did you lay with him?”
“No, no,” she assured her. “But … we were intimate.”
“How so? I do not understand.”
“Well,” she whispered, feeling her blush in her cheeks. “He used his hands, between my legs-”
“Lydia!” she gasped again. “How could you let him do such a thing?”
“Let him?” Lydia asked. “I wanted him to, especially after the first time.”
“There was more than once?”
“Twice, actually,” she said. “And he used his mouth.”
“His mouth?” Trinity gasped. “Isn’t that sinful?”
“It did not feel as such at the time.”
“Is this why you have such strong feelings?” Trinity asked. “It’s not love, as such, but desire?”
“It’s love, too,” Lydia told her, then rushed to explain. “We spent hours arm in arm, talking with each other about life. About politics, philosophy, about family. I have never felt so at ease with anyone else in my life. I only wish, truly, that I could convince him to marry me.”
“We heard shouting,” Trinity explained. “You two arguing with each other. It is hard to believe love can be found when you argued so.”
“I think it’s simply the passion between us,” she explained, shaking her head slowly. “I cannot imagine letting him go.”
Trinity grabbed her hand, squeezing her for comfort.
“Tell me about the marquess,” Lydia pressed.
“He’s quite a gentle soul,” she smiled. “He’s very quiet, very sweet. I can tell that he loved his first wife very much. I can only hope that I can make him love me just as much as her, with time.”
“Have you met his daughter, yet?”
“Oh no, she stays at his estate in the country. When he traveled in Europe, he did not bring her with him. He said he was so very hurt by his wife’s death, that he could hardly look at the child. But now, she reminds him of his wife, and he hates to be parted from her.”
