Page 12 of The Virgin Duchess

Before Charlotte could add in another retort, Frederick straightened, smoothed his hands down the front of his waistcoat, and then turned on his heel toward the door. He exited without another word, the sound of his shoes hitting the hardwood floor clicking as a loud period at the end of this particular sentence.

Part of Frederick wanted to stay, to tease that impetuous woman for the entirety of the day. Still, he had a Baron to catch, andthattask could not wait.

Chapter Five

The evening came as it always did, but the entire day had dragged on for Charlotte, and she was on edge before her husband even arrived at her room. He’d been cordial at dinner, keeping himself in check as his sister, Rose, was there. However, the moment she’d fled back to her room, Frederick had announced that he would be paying her a visit to play a hand of piquet.

She was plenty aware of the game and had played it before. Still, it was such a strange choice in activity, especially considering that the goal of these nights spent together was to get her into his bed.

Why am I still waiting?

She sat on the edge of her bed as she had the night before, and Charlotte’s nerves wound themselves into knots just as they had before, too. Frederick hadn’t said a word about their conversation, and he’d been out the entire length of the day.It was as if nothing had transpired between them before his departure.

It was infuriating.

Knock, knock, knock.

Standing up, Charlotte chose to go to the door this time, allowing her husband entrance on her terms. It was a small act of defiance against her many larger ones. However, it still made Charlotte feel just a hair better about the situation she’d found herself in.

“Your Grace,” she bowed her head as she greeted him at the door, “shall we be playing your little game then?”

Frederick smirked, his eyes narrowing slightly. “Indeed. Though, I thought perhaps you might appreciate the addition of another rule.”

He stepped past her into the room and went directly to the little table that the servants had brought in earlier. Frederick took a seat, and Charlotte fought the urge to grumble as she shut the door and walked over to him.

“Oh, and what would that be?”

It was impossible for Charlotte to keep the venom from her tone, and though she understood that it was not particularly wise to enrage her husband, seeing Frederick bristle slightly made the risk well worth it.

“When a hand is won, the winner may ask the loser a question.” Frederick gestured to the seat across from him, his fingers effortlessly manipulating the cards to shuffle them. “You are allowed to ask whatever you wish, but the loser is allowed to answer vaguely should they feel uncomfortable.”

Charlotte studied him, raking her stare over the man’s tight posture. He looked utterly put together. There wasn’t a single hair out of place, and she sensed nothing from his expression aside from the typical exaggerated charm and a general curiosity.

She would have paid good money to see inside the Duke’s head, which, seeing as that was most impossible, the game would have to do.

“Very well.” Charlotte sat down across from Frederick. “Shall we cut to see who deals?”

A sly chuckle left him, and she glared. “No need, dear wife. I will claim the first deal.”

Working to keep her expression stoic, Charlotte settled into her chair, waiting for the hands to be dealt. She was actually quite good at cards, and piquet was one of the many that she played on a regular basis after Selena had introduced the group to it. The Dowager Duchess of Soulden was always so enraptured by the latest trends from France, and the game was a staple there.

Even Magnus had taken a liking to it as well, and they had been known to keep each other up through the short hours of the evening, playing round after round.

When the cards were ready, Charlotte picked up her hand as the elder and looked over the contents, arranging them. She would take all five from the available cards in the center, leaving Frederick with the only option of taking up to three.

It was a classic move as the first to begin play, not allowing the other player to have as good a chance of creating a series or set.

“Taking five,” she said, discarding her cards to the side and retrieving the top five from the stack.

Frederick waited, and she glanced up to see him finishing his arrangement of the cards before saying, “Taking three.”

He set his exchanged cards to the side, picked up his new ones, and slipped them into their places in his hand. The declaration was next, and it was for her to lead as the elder hand.

“Point of six.” Charlotte had six diamonds in her hand, which had been there from the start, half of her hand already scoring.

“Equal.” Frederick’s steely gaze met hers, and Charlotte narrowed her stare, reading his slightest gestures.

“The point value is fifty-eight,” Charlotte responded, seeing who would win out on this first declaration of points.

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