He had assured her that he was not mad.
That the entire reason that ladies had suddenly started giving birth on their backs, something they had not done until Louis XIV in his palace at Versailles, was because Louis liked to watch births. And the best position for him to observe was for the lady to be on her back.
What astonishing things men insisted upon!
She was rather glad that her doctor was more educated than most and understood the histories of the previous century.
She took in a deep breath, took her sister by the hand, and said, “Come. Let us walk down to the lake.”
“I would like that very much,” Lily said. “Shall we take a boat out?”
“No, I don’t think I can bear bobbing on the water just at present. The fresh air is enough.”
“Oh, of course,” Lily said quickly, eyeing her still-flat middle. “I cannot believe you are going to have a baby.”
She had not thought to hide the truth from her sister. Her sister was no fool, and she did not wish to mar their relationship with falsehoods.
“Before marriage is not ideal. But it is not so very uncommon,” she hedged.
Lily peered at her. “Truly not?”
“No,” she confessed. “At least that’s what the duke tells me, and Adelaide, my maid. She says many of the village girls are with child before they get married. Apparently, many young people cannot keep their hands off each other, and then when something happens, they go before the church.”
“Goodness, this sounds a total scandal,” Lily exclaimed.
She considered this. “I suppose it is only scandalous because we are told that young ladies must remain pure and virtuous, but it appears the practicality of it is far different than what we are taught.”
“I suppose I’m not surprised,” Lily mused, tucking a lock of her wild blonde hair behind her ear. “I had the strangest feelings around the blacksmith’s son. He made me feel most curious and warm and—”
“The blacksmith’s son,” she gasped.
Lily’s lips tilted in a mischievous smile. “Yes. If you must know, we shared a kiss behind the barn. It was revelatory.”
She swallowed any recriminations for she hadn’t a leg to stand on. “Well, I’m glad you’re here with me now, and I’m glad it was pleasant. But if you go about kissingany more blacksmith’s sons, please do let me know, and don’t let it get too far because I have been fortunate enough to marry a duke. I don’t know if you should enjoy being married to a blacksmith’s son.”
Lily pursed her lips. “Well, I don’t see why not. As long as we were not to live in abject poverty, and a blacksmith’s son will make a good wage.”
They turned as they promenaded, and she glanced back at the castle behind them. It was so entirely different than a house that a blacksmith might live in, but her sister was not wrong.
Blacksmiths lived comfortably, but they did not have the gilded rooms, scores of servants, and hosts of coaches.
“Do you think you could be content as such?” she asked Lily, truly curious.
Lily looked at her, nibbling her lower lip before she nodded. “I do. Truthfully, I don’t know if I care for this life where more and more and more is required to feel content. When I look around at everyone in our society, before this event of course, I’ve never seen anyone happy.”
Lily gave a little shudder as if she was considering living out her life in one of the miserable marriages she had seen. “Have you? Perhaps Mama and Papa, but they died when I was so little that I don’t really remember it.”
Catherine thought of the gilded rooms and the ballrooms where she had entertained the idea of being a courtesan, and of the salons where she had been forced to prattle on about weather and dogs and horses when she’d had her first Season.
She had not seen many happy people.
There had been some, but none of them had been particularly attached to status or things. They had seemed to find their lives’ importance in other things, such as the championing of other people’s rights and protecting the happiness of others before themselves.
“What an interesting idea, Lily,” she said, linking her arm with her sister’s. “Whatever it is, I will support you, and I do hope that you find whatever brings you joy.”
Lily beamed at her. “Thank you. Besides, you have married well enough for the both of us. I don’t think I shall have to worry about marriage at all if I don’t want to…” She paused and waggled her brows. “But I do want to.”
At last, Catherine laughed. “I see. I’m glad that you want to. If that is what you desire, I will make certain, as will the duke, that you may marry whomever you choose, and you will never have to be afraid of whomever it is being like our brother.”