A Ladys Pleasure by Jolie Cain

which she’d arranged on her head in a flattering style, allowing a few tendrils to curl around her face. When she’d come downstairs earlier, she’d been bombarded with comments and compliments on her changed appearance to which she’d offered little in the way of explanation except to say that she’d been feeling under the weather but was much better now, and she was always in much better looks when she was well. Since most of the company couldn’t precisely remember exactly how she had looked before, her explanations were accepted with a minimum of fuss.
    Richard had said nothing, but she could see satisfaction on his face as he’d gazed at her. She really should be furious with the duke for ruining her plan, but she found that she could not. He’d lifted his glass in a silent toast, like the one he’d offered that first night, and she’d had to restrain a smile before turning back to another importuning gentleman who was attempting to gain her attention. It really was fatiguing having to fend off unwanted admirers, but she had to admit that it did give her a real ego boost.
    She’d never really gone much into society, as she was married before she’d had a season and her husband had not enjoyed town life. Her social activities had generally been limited to the neighboring gentility and her occasional trips to see her friend Caroline, and it was somewhat satisfying to enjoy such social success, even in a small gathering.
    She’d carried off the entire thing with aplomb, she thought, but the effort had been exhausting. She’d been relieved when they’d moved to the dining room. Lily was seated down the table and on the opposite side from the duke, but she could still feel his gaze on her throughout the meal. She refused to look his way, convinced that he would be able to see the combination of trepidation and excitement that surely must be reflected on her face. Ever since she had agreed to begin an affair with him, she had felt as though she was about to step off a precipice, and she had no idea whether or not the landing would be a disaster. She couldn’t believe that she was actually going to go through with it. For so long she had sworn to never again put herself into such a vulnerable position with a man. Yet here she was. About to do just that. Because he had awakened something in her that she had never expected. Lust.
    When she had left him that first night in the garden, she had been stunned at her own body’s reaction. In all the years of her marriage, she had never felt even an inkling of desire for her husband or, indeed, any man. She’d thought that she was incapable of such feelings. And in one brief encounter, the duke had complete shattered any idea that she was a cold, unfeeling woman. She wanted more. Oh, she still had no desire for marriage.
    Her reasons there were still quite sound. Men wanted to control their wives in a way that she knew she would never be able to accept again. But the other…that was a different story. Caro was right. She would take a lover. And who better than the man who had awakened her body to passion? This was the perfect opportunity to explore these new feelings with no worry for the consequences. Of course, there was the danger of pregnancy, but she thought it was a negligible one. After all, as she had told Caroline, after six years of marriage without a child, it was improbable that she would conceive now.
    At last Caroline rose from her seat and led the ladies from the room to allow the gentlemen their after-dinner port and cigars while the women adjourned to the drawing room. As soon as she had sat down on a nearby settee, Caroline scurried over to join her.
    Her nosy friend had had no opportunity to interrogate Lily after she’d returned from her ride that morning, and Lily knew that she was probably bursting with curiosity. She was proven correct by the first words out of Caroline’s mouth.
    “So, how did you enjoy your ride this morning with the