His Duchess’ Wicked List (Duchess Deals #1)

Chapter 1

CHAPTER 1

“ O h, Maddie! You are so naughty! I did not think you had it in you!”

Lady Madeline Cole, second daughter of the Marquess of Ollerton, felt her face burning fiercely at her best friend’s words. Selina’s voice was high-pitched with surprise, but Maddie noticed the slight twitch of her friend’s mouth and the twinkle in her blue eyes, which suggested that while Selina might be a trifle shocked by Maddie’s list, she was also highly amused and entertained.

Maddie glanced quickly behind her. Her older sister, Lady Augusta Cole, was acting as their chaperone on their stroll through Hyde Park and was trailing behind them at a discreet distance. Maddie let out a silent sigh of relief. She was fairly sure that Augusta hadn’t heard Selina’s outburst at all.

In fact, her sister wasn’t paying them the slightest attention. Augusta was reading as she walked, as always, with her head buried in a small book, which Maddie knew contained the latest poems of the scandalous rake Lord Byron.

Her eyes slid to the side. Maddie’s lady’s maid, Jane, was also officially chaperoning the young ladies, but she was otherwise occupied as well, intent as she was on feeding the ducks in the river crumbs from a stale loaf of bread.

Maddie sighed again. Augusta and her lady’s maid’s distraction meant that she and Selina could talk freely, without fear of retribution. And that was just as well, considering that their discussion was highly private. Maddie still couldn’t believe that she had plucked up the courage to show her best friend the list at all… but the cat was well and truly out of the bag now!

Selina was clutching the slim piece of paper in her hand. Her blue eyes were the size of saucers.

“I do not know why you are so very shocked, Selina,” Maddie said in a breathless voice. “After all, you are the one who suggested I write such a list, of all the things I would like to do in the next month before I must submit to the yoke of marriage with someone.”

“Well, yes, I did.” Selina tilted her head back, trilling with laughter. “But I thought you would perhaps write that you aim to read all of Shakespeare’s plays or some other such things.” She gripped the list tightly, waving it under Maddie’s nose. “I did not think you would write things like… this!”

Maddie sighed dramatically. “Really, Selina, do you think my future husband—whoever he may be—would never let me read again?” She shook her head. “The list is for things I will in all likelihood never be able to do after marriage. Not in a hundred years!”

“I know that you wish to marry for love, dearest,” Selina said in a gentle voice. “Or that you at least want to be attracted to your husband.” She paused. “It might still be possible…”

“It is not likely,” Maddie grumbled in a glum voice. “This is my third London Season, not my first. Younger ladies are on the rise now. If I am not careful, I will end up a spinster like Augusta. And Mama will not tolerate two spinster daughters on her hands…”

“Oh, no,” Selina said abruptly, slipping the list back between the pages of the book Maddie had brought to disguise it. “Put on your best face, dearest. We are about to have company.”

Maddie turned around quickly. Two gentlemen were approaching them from the left, smartly attired in traditional morning garb, complete with top hats. Maddie vaguely recognized them, but she had always been terrible with names and titles, often confusing them utterly, to her mother’s eternal chagrin.

“Who are they?” she asked in a fierce whisper.

“Lord Babcock and Lord Gingham,” Selina whispered, rolling her eyes, as she adjusted the bodice of her gown, pulling it higher. “They are two bores we met at the Vaughn soiree two weeks ago.”

“Oh, yes.” Maddie rolled her eyes discreetly as well. “But do not worry. I have a secret signal with Augusta if I am being accosted by a bore. She will intervene on our behalf.”

“Ladies,” one of the gentlemen greeted, smiling widely as he tipped his hat. “How utterly delightful to meet you here!”

Maddie and Selina both curtseyed politely, as custom demanded. Maddie seized the opportunity to glance covertly at her sister. To her relief, Augusta was watching them now, and with eyes as sharp as a hawk’s. As Maddie rose, she scratched her chin, ever so slightly. It was a gesture that no one would have noticed or thought anything about… except her older sister.

“You are enjoying taking the air, ladies?” the other gentleman asked, with a silky smile. His eyes raked over Maddie in a very obvious way.

Maddie’s mouth tightened.

He looks at me as if he is contemplating buying a horse at an auction . It is insufferable!

As Selina mumbled an appropriate response, Maddie tried to pay attention and be polite. But it was almost impossible. She despised small talk with mincing gentlemen, and she had done enough of it over the past three Seasons in London since her debut. So much of it that she grew weary of even thinking of something inane to say nowadays.

She recalled her very first London Season, when she had such high hopes. She had been considered the Diamond that year, and in her second Season as well. As such, gentlemen were always flocking around her, vying for her attention. Her mother had said with a smile, on more than one occasion, that it was like watching bees buzzing around a honeypot.

Augusta was upon them. The two gentlemen gazed at her a little fearfully. Maddie’s sister’s reputation clearly preceded her.

“Gentlemen,” Augusta said in a firm, crisp voice, sounding quite like an authoritative hospital matron. “How can we help you?”

The gentlemen smiled at her weakly, looking unsure.

“We are just conversing with the young ladies,” one of them replied in an almost patronizing voice. “About the weather.”

“The weather?” Augusta sounded affronted. “You truly have no better topic to talk about than the weather ? You have no opinions on politics, such as the latest war with France, or the problems that have arisen with the rapid state of industrialization in the north of the country?”

The gentlemen looked stunned, blinking rapidly.

“It… It was just a casual remark,” the gentleman stammered. “I think I asked something about taking the air… not the weather itself…”

Augusta smiled. “You appear confused. Which is it?”

The gentleman shrugged helplessly.

Maddie suppressed a giggle. If it wasn’t so amusing watching Augusta in battle, she might even feel sorry for him.

“We should go,” the other gentleman said quickly, bowing his head. “Ladies!”

Maddie and Selina burst out laughing, gripping each other, as soon as the gentlemen were out of earshot. She had never seen such a hasty exit.

“There,” Augusta quipped in a pleased voice, rubbing her gloved hands together as if she had just completed a satisfying task. “They have retreated. Carry on, girls.”

Selina linked arms with Maddie, and they kept walking. Augusta dropped back behind them again.

“Thank you, Sister!” Maddie called gaily.

Augusta gave a dismissive wave, before opening her scandalous book of poetry once more. Within a minute, she was entirely absorbed.

It is a fine thing to have a progressive bluestocking for a sister . Even if it gives Mama an attack of the vapors and bewilders Papa.

“Now,” Selina said, her blue eyes twinkling, “back to the list!” She opened the book, retrieving the list, her mouth a small red moue as she studied it. “Oh, Maddie. It is pure scandal!”

Maddie blushed again but looked at her friend defiantly. “I have no choice, Selina. This is the only chance I will get to have any adventure before marriage. Mama is not backing down this time.”

Selina frowned. “She intends to marry you off if you do not find a suitor of your own?”

“Exactly so.” Maddie sighed heavily. “I must marry someone—anyone—by the end of the Season. I am afraid she has run out of patience with me.”

“It is not so very surprising.” Selina glanced back at Augusta. “She does not want you turning out like your sister, after all, who would not consider any gentleman if her life depended on it.”

Maddie’s heart flipped. “There are reasons Augusta is the way she is,” she said in a hesitant voice. “Do not judge her too harshly, Selina. Besides, I admire her beliefs enormously. She is not afraid to challenge gentlemen and the status quo and believes that women should be equal to men. She fervently believes there is the possibility of a more equitable society, if only we challenge the norm.”

She glanced back at her sister as well.

Augusta was very lovely, with silky golden hair and bright green eyes. She had definitely had her share of admirers over the years, all of which she had spurned. She was five-and-twenty now, and everyone knew a lady was over the hill at that age. The prospects had dried up. And Augusta professed to be happy about it. She was the only lady that Maddie had ever known who was unmarried by choice.

Augusta was proud to be a spinster and wasn’t afraid to express it. Her singular opinions about the matrimonial state, and the rights of women in general, were hard for their parents to digest. The Marquess and Marchioness of Ollerton were very traditional, conventional people. Maddie thought they were probably taken aback that a hellion such as Augusta had landed in their midst. Rather like a family of sparrows being forced to raise an eagle.

“Do not mistake me, Maddie,” Selina continued, raising her eyebrows. “I admire Augusta, too, even though my dear mama thinks her shocking, and is always warning me that I must never become a bluestocking like her.” She smiled impishly, lowering her voice. “But I am not afraid to confide in you that I think women should be men’s equals as well. Why should they have all the fun?”

Maddie laughed in delight, tightening her grip on her best friend’s arm. Dear Selina. They hadn’t been friends for such a long time—only since last Season—but they had established a rapport quickly and were now so close that not a day went by when they weren’t either calling on or writing to each other.

Maddie still recalled the day, very fondly, when she had first met Selina. They had both been attending a garden party on the grounds of some London mansion. Maddie had been so bored that she was almost in physical pain.

And then, out of the blue, she had noticed a tall, lean young lady with golden brown hair a slight distance away from the party, almost squatting as she peered into a box near a garden shed. To Maddie’s delight, the young lady had lifted a squirming black puppy, cradling it in her arms.

Maddie had snuck away to join her, of course. She loved animals, especially puppies. Soon, the two girls were chatting and laughing freely as they petted the litter of pups. And they had been inseparable ever since, at least when they were together in London.

“They definitely should not have all the fun,” Maddie agreed in a fervent voice. “Why can I not go off on an adventure, rollicking around, just as a gentleman does? Why must our lives always be boring garden parties, tea, and cakes?”

“Indeed.” Selina nodded, rolling her eyes. “It is insufferable! And my dear mama has been even stricter with me than yours has been with you… on account of all that we have suffered.”

Maddie squeezed her friend’s arm. She understood the oblique reference. Selina’s family had been beset by scandal years ago and had apparently struggled to overcome it. Selina had told Maddie that her mother had delayed her coming out because of it… but that was about all she knew.

Maddie wasn’t sure of the exact details, as she had been very young when it happened, and no one would have talked about such things to a young lady, anyway. Selina never mentioned it, even in passing, except with vague references about the family’s past suffering.

Maddie’s parents never mentioned it and would take her to task if she asked about it. She supposed that Augusta was probably aware of the details, but something stopped Maddie from asking her sister. Perhaps it was loyalty to Selina. She didn’t want to gossip behind her best friend’s back, even with her own sister.

That was just the way of things with Selina. She didn’t like talking about the past—or her family at all, really. She wished to live in the present moment. Maddie respected that and would never pry.

“Anyway, let us not talk about such things.” Selina took a deep breath as she peered at the list in her hand again. “This is much more diverting entertainment! Dearest Maddie, perhaps you should contemplate creating a scandal with a gentleman you admire. If that happened, then you would not be forced to endure someone your mother chooses for you.”

Maddie gave a bark of laughter. “If only it were that easy, dearest. But unfortunately, there are no gentlemen I admire. They are all so very dull, just like the two gentlemen Augusta just sent away.”

“Sadly, I must agree with you.” Selina snorted, shaking her head. “But perhaps we just haven’t been looking hard enough.” Her eyes were twinkling with mirth again. “After all, we must find at least one agreeable gentleman, so you may complete some of the things on this list, even if he is not marriage material. Should you start at the top, or simply tick them off as the opportunities present themselves? There is simply no time to waste!”