Christmas with the Duchess (25 page)

“I need hardly remind you that our cousin Catherine is now married,” Octavia went on. “What if she bears her Mr. Prescott a son? A Prescott could then inherit Camford.”

Harsh red color stained Lady Anne’s cheeks. “That marriage should never have taken place!” she burst out. “When your father was her guardian, he forbade the match! How Nicholas
could
—! Why, Mr. Prescott is nothing more than my late brother’s steward! His son shall never be Earl of Camford!”

“If
I
had been Nicholas’s wife, I would never have permitted the marriage,” said Octavia. “I should be breeding by now, too.”

“Perhaps Julia is barren,” Lady Susan suggested.

Lady Anne bristled. “Barren! By no means! The women in my family have always been the most conscientious breeders!”

“Until now,” said Octavia.

“I was only joking at the stables,” said Julia fiercely. “I
am
breeding. I know I am. I’m certain of it. So there!”

“No, you’re not!” From across the room, Flavia taunted her younger, prettier sister. Julia had never been kind to her, and now she seized her chance for revenge. “You’re bleeding. My maid told me, and your maid told her. What’s more: Camford asked for separate rooms! They don’t even share a bed!”

“We do not share a bed,” Julia screeched, “because I no longer permit it! The man is a brute. All he ever wants to do is copulate. He loves me
too
much. That is the only problem. He never leaves me alone. Never! He is too vigorous! He hurts me, Mama! My womanhood is in tatters! But he does not dare attack me here. I am safe from him here.”

“Attack you?” cried Lady Anne. “Nicholas?”

“It is beyond horrible!” said Julia.

“Of course it’s beyond horrible,” Lady Susan scoffed. “He is a man. But he is also your husband, and you must submit to his odious caresses or suffer the consequences.”

“I won’t submit to his odious caresses,” said Julia. “I shall get a divorce!”

The ladies gasped as one.

Satisfied with their reaction, Julia turned on her heel and left the room, her red dress trailing behind her like the fiery tail of a dragon.

“Divorce! It’s worse than I thought,” said Octavia, when Julia had gone. “What do you mean to do, Mama?”

Lady Anne looked startled. “Do?” she echoed, puzzled. “We must hope she does not mean it, of course. There would be such a scandal! She cannot mean it.”

“But we cannot depend on Julia to come to her senses, Mama,” Octavia said brusquely. “The situation calls for decisive action. Someone must make Julia understand that breeding is her only purpose in life. Someone must talk to her.”

“Talk to Julia? Talk to Julia about…about…Oh, no!” Lady Anne shook her head frantically. “I’m sure that talking about it will only make things worse.”

“Someone must speak to her,” Octavia insisted. “It should be someone who understands men and their disgusting inner workings.”

“But I’ve already talked to the girl,” Lady Susan scoffed.

“Someone who understands
Nicholas,
” said Octavia. “Someone who knows him intimately.”

Lady Anne frowned in concentration. “He’s always spoken fondly of his captain from his days in the Royal Navy.”

“For God’s sake,” Lady Harriet said impatiently. “She means someone who has had sexual relations with the man!
Emma,
you fool. If anyone can help Julia deal with the brute, it is she. Let Emma speak to Julia.”

“Yes,” Lady Anne said eagerly. “Anything is better than divorce. But…who will ask the duchess to speak to Julia?”

“You’re her mother,” said Lady Harriet. “You do it.”

“If it were my daughter, I would not hesitate,” said Lady Susan.

“You must do it, Mama,” said Octavia. “Everything depends on you.”

Lady Anne’s pale eyes goggled. “I? Talk to the duchess?”

Lady Anne had scarcely recovered from her surprise when Emma returned to the room with Colin. “My dear Emma!” Lady Susan brayed. “Anne would speak to you.”

“Oh?” Emma said politely.

“Invite her grace to take a turn around the room with you,” Octavia hissed, giving her mother a push.

Lady Anne obediently climbed to her feet. “Would your grace be good enough to take a turn around the room with me?” she quavered.

“What’s that all about?” Colin demanded of Lady Harriet as his sister strolled away with Lady Anne. “What could Anne have to say to my sister that the rest of the room cannot hear?”

“I don’t know,” Lady Harriet answered with a cruel smile. “I haven’t the slightest idea. And, even if I
did
know, I wouldn’t tell
you.
”

“You’re killing me, witch,” he complained.

Lady Anne and the duchess had not taken twenty steps together when the rest of the gentlemen returned to the room. Already nervous, Lady Anne discovered that it was quite impossible to take up the sensitive subject with men in the room. The attempt had to be given up. Emma kindly led Lady Anne back to the sofa and left her with a cup of coffee.

“What was
that
about?” Colin demanded. “Aunt Harriet would not say.”

“I haven’t the slightest idea,” Emma answered with a shrug. “Poor Anne! She opens her mouth, and the words just sort of fall out in no particular order. I could make no sense of it. But she’s promised to come see me tomorrow morning, and try again.”

“I say, Mama!” Harry called loudly. “Where’s Julia gone?”

“She was tired, your grace; she’s gone to bed,” said Lady Susan. “Perhaps Lord Camford should go and check on her.”

“No! No!” Lady Anne protested, starting up in alarm. “Julia
really
is very tired, Nicholas. You should let her rest.”

“Fine,” Nicholas said agreeably. “Would anyone care to give me a game of chess?”

“I will, if you like, my lord,” said Palafox.

Palafox was not the antagonist Nicholas had hoped for, but he bowed graciously and went to set up the chess board.

Harry sat down with his mother, fidgeting as Flavia sat down at the pianoforte to play. “I suppose I might go out to the harbourer’s, after all,” he said presently. “I mean, I know how you worry about Grey, Mama.”

At the moment, Emma was more worried about Harry’s unhealthy fascination with his cousin Julia, but she did not tell him that.

“Thank you, my love,” she said. “I shall rest easier knowing that you are with him. He is at an age, you know, when he needs his elder brother.”

Harry listened to this speech impatiently, and got away as quickly as he could.

The following morning, Lady Anne was a little better prepared for her discussion with the duchess. “I hope you know I would not come to you unless the situation was quite desperate,” she began. Reassured by the privacy of the duchess’s sitting room, she hardly stammered.

“No, I don’t suppose you would,” Emma agreed, her eyebrows raised in a question.

“I-I never liked you, you know,” Lady Anne said, with such an earnest expression that Emma was hard-pressed not to laugh. “I always thought you were a scarlet woman.”

“I never liked you either,” Emma answered. “I always thought you were a spineless weakling.”

“Oh!” Lady Anne flinched as though she had been slapped across the face.

“Is that all you wanted to tell me?” Emma asked impatiently.

“No, your grace. Julia wants a divorce,” Lady Anne whined. “She cannot bear copulating with her husband, and she intends to leave him. If you do not help me, I—I don’t know what I’ll do! There has never been a divorce in the family before!” she wailed, sinking to her knees on the duchess’s Aubusson rug. “Never!”

“Compose yourself, Anne,” Emma commanded her. “You’re not making any sense. Julia can’t possibly want a divorce, and Lord Camford told me himself that they are happy.”

“
He
may be happy,” Lady Anne said, glowering, “but my daughter is not! It pains me to say it, because he is my nephew, but Nicholas is a horrid beast.”

“In what way is he horrid?” Emma scoffed. “Does he beat her? Shout at her?”

“Of course not,” said Lady Anne. “Her complaint is more serious. Her womanhood is in tatters. Yes, tatters!” she insisted as Emma looked skeptical. “I have explained to Julia that she cannot deny him his rights as a husband, but she will not listen to me. She says she cannot bear any more—any more—
copulation.
”

Modesty compelled Lady Anne to whisper.

Emma jumped to her feet and walked to the window. “But, really, Anne, this is none of my business. I am sorry Julia is unhappy, but what am
I
to do about it? And do get up from the floor,” she added impatiently, motioning for Lady Anne to take a seat. “You look ridiculous.”

Lady Anne meekly settled into a chair. “Your grace must not offer Julia sanctuary. If she has no place else to go, she must stay with Camford. Will you promise not to let her stay here?”

“I will promise nothing of the kind,” Emma said sharply. “If I were Julia’s mother, I’d be more worried of making her feel desperate. Whatever happens with Camford, she should be able to depend on her mother’s support.”

“Oh, I knew you would not help me,” Lady Anne said bitterly. “You delight in watching me grovel. Everyone does.”

“Oh, for heaven’s sake,” Emma said impatiently. “If Julia has quarreled with her husband, I daresay it will blow over in a day or two. You are worrying for nothing, Anne. Julia may
feel
that Camford is a horrid beast, but I rather doubt it.”

“All men are horrid beasts in the bedchamber,” said Lady Anne. “I was brought up to submit to my duty no matter how unpleasant, but Julia…She seems to think she deserves better. She is headstrong. She vows never to let him touch her again. I don’t expect a woman like
you
to understand, but respectable young ladies do not find that sort of thing at all pleasant.”

“I beg your pardon,” Emma said coldly.

“Oh, I mean no offense, your grace!” Lady Anne said hastily. “It is well-known that you have had many, many affairs. You would not have done so, if you did not find it enjoyable. Therefore, I must conclude that you
do
like the act which to all respectable females must be highly repugnant. I don’t judge,” she went on kindly. “It’s not your fault; your mama was a foreign lady. Foreigners are so…so
earthy,
aren’t they? We see it all the time in the Royal Family. It would be easier, I know, if Julia had not inherited my delicate English sensibility, my ladylike horror of men. If she were more like
you,
she would not be disgusted by her husband’s appalling habits. She would not be shocked by anything he could want! You did not find Nicholas so odious when he was
your
lover, I daresay.”

Emma controlled her temper with difficulty. “Anne, what is it you want from me?”

“Is there not some trick you could teach Julia? Some…technique…some method for getting through the ordeal with a minimum of discomfort?”

“You want me to teach Julia a trick?”

Lady Anne immediately heaved a sigh of relief. “Oh, I knew you would help me,” she happily declared. “I knew you were not completely heartless. You will teach Julia the secret of painless copulation, and she will submit to her husband like a good wife, and Camford will have an heir. There will be no more talk of divorce.”

“Madam, I said no such thing,” Emma said sharply. “If Camford is truly as bad as your daughter says, then I think she
should
leave him.”

As the words left her mouth, she had a sudden, fleeting vision of Julia cozying up to Harry. Such a scenario could not be ruled out, if the Camfords were to divorce.

“What?” Lady Anne was crying. “How can you say so?”

Emma held up a hand. “However, I doubt he’s all that bad. Nicholas is young and inexperienced, perhaps—they both are! There’s bound to be a period of adjustment. I’m sure if Camford knew his wife was unhappy, he’d be aggrieved, mortified.”

“You’re not going to
tell
him!” Lady Anne gasped. “If he knew she was even thinking of divorce, he’d be sure to divorce
her.
You must teach her your—your bedroom tricks. With this one little favor to me, one good act, you might atone a little for a lifetime of sin,” she went on wildly. “I am giving you the chance to put your wicked stores of carnal knowledge to some good purpose. Wouldn’t that be nice for you, dear?”

“Oh,
very
nice,” Emma replied. “But I’m afraid it would be useless to talk to Julia. The problem, as I see it, is Nicholas.”

“Nicholas?” Lady Anne breathed. “Really? I thought it was always the woman’s fault. You see,
this
is why it was proper to consult an expert. So the fault lies with Nicholas. Can anything be done about it? Is it hopeless?”

“Not at all. If Nicholas were a better lover, Julia would not find her duty so unpleasant.”

“Oh, I see,” said Lady Anne. “You’re going to have to give him lessons, is that it?”

“Yes,” Emma replied, struggling to keep a straight face. “I’ll have to give him lessons. Lots of lessons,” she added. “I’m fairly certain he’s a slow learner, but I’ll do my best.”

“You said
what?
” cried Colin, when this was related to him a few minutes later. He usually enjoyed a cup of chocolate and a bit of gossip with his sister in the mornings before reporting to his valet. This morning, he had come into the room just as Lady Anne was leaving.

Emma calmly took a sip of her chocolate. “I said I’d give him lessons. My good deed for the year. I did not in a hundred years think the notion would find favor with the old girl! Guess my surprise when she offered to keep Julia out of the way tomorrow.”

Emma laughed until tears streamed down her cheeks.

“I should have thought a respectable lady would have been driven, screaming, from the room, by such a wicked idea! But she really seemed to think it would answer!”