Page 44 of A Virgin for the Duke of Scars
Theresa focused on what she needed to do, pulling her foot to the other and trying to rise. The movement was choppy, nothing like Lady Sophia’s.
“Again,” Lady Sophia urged.
Theresa tried five or six more times, each time corrected by the two older ladies. She was eventually interrupted by Juliette, who stopped by to see what all the giggling was about.
Despite her hopelessness, the three of them were having a good time.
“They are teaching you the wrong way,” Juliette declared as she watched Theresa try to bob another deep curtsy. “Not so deep in the bend.”
“She will learn itproperly,” the Dowager Duchess reprimanded. “Just because you insist on flouting convention doesn’t mean she will do the same. She is a duchess.”
“Is there an easier way?” Theresa asked.
“Those who grew up among thetonhave gotten used to doing things differently,” Lady Sophia explained. “The younger crowd does not adhere to conventions. They do not realize that itconveys disrespect, but we are here to teach youboththe old ways.”
“I would rather learn to do it the right way,” Theresa said, ever the obedient student. But she felt bad for betraying Juliette when she had been nothing but kind to her. “Juliette, forgive me.”
“Oh, don’t worry. You’ll grow tired of it, eventually,” Juliette assured her with a laugh. “For now, Grandmama will steer you right.”
She went and sat down next to the Dowager Duchess on the settee, commenting now and then on Theresa’s curtsy.
Finally, the women were happy enough with her progress that they suggested she take a small break.
Theresa took a seat across from them.
“Cross your ankles,” the Dowager Duchess said. “And tilt your legs to the left.”
Even the way she sat down was wrong. There were never such strict rules in the convent. That was one thing she should have been grateful for, she supposed. Perhaps the only thing.
Soon after, a maid brought in a tray of sweets. There were small pastries, bowls of fruit sprinkled with sugar, and other things that Theresa could not name. She wanted to try them all.
But the Dowager Duchess had other plans. She showed Theresa how to politely accept food from a servant, how to hold her silverware, and the proper way to chew and swallow so as not to rush the meal.
There were so many rules in her new life that Theresa simply did not know if she could learn all of them. Nothing she did was right. It lacked the decorum that a duchess must have. She worried she would be an embarrassment to Aaron for the rest of their lives.
They continued with the lessons on how to address the servants and anyone of a lower station.
“But how would I know who has a lower rank?”
“You will learn the names of everyone in theton,” Lady Sophia assured her. “It will take time and patience, but you will learn the ins and outs of social life in town.”
“Or you can just pretend that everyone is beneath you,” Juliette whispered in her ear. “So many of them are. And even if they’re not, they will just think you are arrogant, like the lot of them.”
Theresa laughed at the comment. She could get used to the time spent in the company of these ladies.
The older women continued with the lesson, while Juliette whispered tips in her ear now and then.
As the day wore on, Theresa felt something akin to friendship with her sister-in-law. It was not the same as the deep bond she had with Margaret for the discipline they bore together, but it would be nice to have a true friend here in the manor.
She wondered what Aaron was doing. The day had worn on, and he was surely with his friends by now. She had no idea how the Dowager Duchess and her friend could bear to spend an entire day teaching her decorum, but they had.
Would Aaron be proud of her if she got all of this right? The last thing she wanted was to embarrass him in front of his friends and the entireton. She would learn to be a good wife, the way she learned to be a good sister.
More importantly, she wondered what he would do if she made him proud. Would he do that thing with his hand again, the thing that caused her to cry out and quiver in pleasure?
She shook her head and tried to focus on what the Dowager Duchess was saying, but she could feel the color rising in her cheeks.
“Look,” Lady Sophia said with a giggle. “The girl blushes as you talk about how to host a party.”
