Page 2 of A Fake Courtship with the Duke
“Oh, you sweet darling,” Anne cooed, cradling the kitten to her chest. “Where is your mother?”
A quick survey of the area indicated that no large cat was in sight. And from the thinness of the small animal, she guessed it hadn’t nursed from its mother in a few days. She held up the kitten to get a better look at it in the moonlight. It was a boy, she realized, and he took another swipe at her nose.
Anne giggled, nuzzling the frightened creature gently with her nose. The kitten pushed on her face as she did so, issuinganother hiss. But before the quiet sound had finished escaping the tiny animal’s mouth, he had begun rubbing his head against her face, purring softly in her hand.
Instinctively, Anne lifted her skirt and wrapped up the little orange kitten in it. He calmed instantly, staring at Anne with curious eyes. When he mewled again, it was stronger and more insistent. Anne guessed he was hungry, and she knew she needed to find some way to fix that soon.
"It seems we're both outcasts tonight," she whispered to the kitten, her voice soft and soothing. She gently caressed the fur on his head, feeling the rapid beat of his tiny heart.
The kitten, seemingly uncertain on his feelings about her, nipped at her fingers. His razor-sharp baby teeth nicked her fingertip, but she could only giggle.
“You are a little troublemaker, aren’t you?” she asked, lifting the kitten, still wrapped in her skirt, back up to the level of her eyes. “I think you shall be named Mischief.”
At the sound of Anne’s soft but confident proclamation of her new pet’s name, the kitten tilted his head back as if to study her face. Then, he reached for her face, but not to swipe at her that time. Instead, he put his tiny paw beneath her right eye until she brought him closer to her face. Then, he put his little cold nose against her skin, beginning his purring again.
For a fleeting moment, the evening's earlier debacle faded into insignificance as Anne cradled the abandoned kitten in her arms. In the silence of the garden, Anne found solace in her newfound companion. And as he finally relented to her kindness and curled up in her arms, hiding his face with the hem of her skirt, she understood that he found solace with her, as well.
Chapter One
Anne stood staring morosely out the window, thinking about the evening ahead of her, while Martha, her loyal lady's maid, moved about with deft fingers, fastening the delicate buttons of Anne's pink gown. The dress was an artful collage of ribbons and lace, and the skirt was wide and round, exactly the way Anne loved her dresses. However, she couldn’t bask in the thrill of a new, pretty dress. Dread occupied her mind and threatened to overwhelm her.
She had been surprised when her elder sister included her in the invitation to the ball she was hosting that night. After her incident at the ball the year before as she tried to escape her cousin, everyone in the ton had been reluctant to invite Anne to any events. And even though her sister was celebrating her one-year wedding anniversary with the earl of Dunbridge, Anne would have expected Elizabeth to have the same reservations about having her attend such a special event that everyone else did.
Truthfully, her peers in high society had become increasingly more hesitant to extend invitations to her, and for similar reasons. It was well known that she wasn’t the most graceful lady in the ton. But even Elizabeth had been reluctant to claim a connection to her. She supposed her elder sister was obliged to invite her, along with their parents. Still, there was a nervous twist in her stomach, and she wished for a way out of attending the party. However, she knew there would be no such reprieve. Despite her clumsy escapades, and her nearing the point of being an old maid at twenty-two years of age, her parents still held a little hope that she would marry. Even if it was to her own horrid cousin.
Anne shuddered at the idea of being wed to Albert. The age difference alone between them was enough to be deemed scandalous. And his drinking habits, even outside the gentlemen’s clubs, sparked rumors all over the ton. But worse of all, she would be forced to produce an heir for him, as he had never been married. As much as Anne loved the idea of having a family of her own, she could hardly stand the thought of laying, or having children, with Albert. She took a deep breath, trying to force the thoughts away.
As if sensing her need for a mood lightener, Mischief leaped onto the dressing table, swatting playfully at the ribbons on her dress. Anne laughed, reaching out for her cat with care so as to not disturb Martha while she finished with the buttons on the dress.
“My precious, we shan’t play with people’s clothing,” she chastised, even though she found it precious when he did such things. “Do you not have enough toys to keep you occupied?”
Mischief looked up at her with his orange-yellow eyes, blinking them softly as he stretched up his neck to sniff her chin. Anne laughed again, giving the animal a kiss on the top of his head.
“I suppose that is a request for a couple of more,” she said, nuzzling the ginger cat.
Mischief gently nudged her with its head until she cast her gaze upon it. Then, he meowed once, looking over his shoulder at the corner of the room, where several of the toys Anne had made for him lay scattered about.
Anne sighed, scratching the animal behind the ears.
“Very well,” she said, smiling warmly at the cat. “When next I am knitting, I shall make you a new ball of yarn and make a new yarn braid for you to chew on.”
Mischief blinked at her slowly again, putting his nose to her cheek as though kissing her. Then, he turned and gracefullyhopped from her arms, taking up a perch on the end of the table, not far from where Anne stood.
“I suppose he means to help me dress you, Miss Anne,” Martha said with a good-natured laugh as she fastened the last of the button and tied the ribbon that made a grand bow in the back of the dress.
Anne giggled again and shook her head.
“You do the most splendid work, Martha,” she said. “I may loathe these parties, but I get to go to them looking my best. And that’s all thanks to you.”
Martha waved her hand, her pale round face flushing deep crimson.
“Speaking of parties, it’s time to leave for this one,” she said.
Anne took a deep breath, her emotions mingling between excitement and apprehension about attending her elder sister Elizabeth's ball. She was thrilled for her sister that she was celebrating a love that could have come right out of a storybook. Even though Elizabeth and she weren’t exceptionally close, she did love her elder sister, and she wanted nothing but happiness for her. Still, she couldn't help but feel the weight of her family's expectations pressing down on her.
“Very well,” she said in an airy whoosh as she exhaled the breath she had been holding. “I shall go and await the rest of the family.
Martha nodded, curtseying.
