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Millhaven carriage.
    «And he is also right. Legally he owns you.»
    «I know!» Jane tried to smile. «But it doesn’t make it any easier
    to live with his ridiculously old-fashioned notions.»
    «So what did you do when he refused to let you pay the bills
    with your money?»
    «I went and got the money, dumped it on his desk and told
    him he was welcome to it.»
    Emily’s brows wrinkled. «Do you think that was wise? Now
    you have nothing.»
    «He suggested that by giving me pin money, I was no better
    than any prostitute.»
    «He didn’t!»
    «Well, not in those exact words, but that was what he implied.
    I told him that if that was the case, I owed him a refund anyway,
    and then I left before I picked up the poker and brained him.»
    Jane met Emily’s gaze and her lips twitched. Within a moment
    they were both laughing uncontrollably.
    «Oh, Jane, I know it isn’t really funny, but I wish I’d seen
    Minshom s face when you did that.»
    «He didn’t look particularly happy but he quickly masked it.»
    Jane sighed and cast a glance down at her beautiful new dress. «I
    don’t know what he’ll do now, but I’m going to have to send the
    clothes back.»
    36 / Kate Pearce

    «Stuff and nonsense. The gown you have on is a present from
    me and so is the pale blue satin ball gown.»
    «I can’t take those from you.»
    Emily glared at her. «Yes you can, and doesn’t Minshom pay
    you a dress allowance as well?»
    «He does, it was included in the original marriage settlement,
    and hasn’t been increased for years. Living in the countryside
    meant that I didn’t need any particularly grand clothes.»
    «Then I have an even better solution. I’ll deal directly with
    Madame Wallace and you can send me your allowance and
    gradually pay off the debt to me.»
    «Emily, you don’t have to do that.»
    «I jolly well do. I’m not having my best friend reduced to
    walking around in rags, and I’ll be more than delighted to impede
    Minshom in any way I can.» She held out her hand. «Are we in
    agreement?»
    Reluctantly Jane shook the proffered hand. «I almost looked
    forward to walking around London in my country clothes and
    seeing how Minshom handled the gossip. Despite all evidence to
    the contrary, he’s quite proud of his family name.»
    Emily’s smile widened. «Then you should do exactly that and
    see what happens. Most of your clothes won’t be ready for a
    week or so, which gives you the perfect opportunity to play the
    poor downtrodden wife in public.»
    Jane nodded at her best friend. Minshom might think he
    owned her, but as women had learned for themselves, there was
    more than one way to gain power in a marriage.
    At dinner that night, Jane wore her oldest gown, a faded
    patterned pink muslin from several years ago, which she wore at
    home to do the dirtier tasks associated with living on a large
    country estate. She took her seat at the bottom of the long table,
    nodded cordially at Robert, who was standing by the door, and
    looked expectantly at the empty seat at the head of the table.
    «Is Lord Minshom joining us?»
    SIMPLY INSATIABLE / 37
    «I believe he is, my lady. I helped him dress for dinner.»
    Robert hesitated and looked hopefully at the door. «Would you
    like me to go and see if he is coming?»
    «There’s no need to chase me like a mother hen, Robert. I’m
    here.»
    Jane pasted on a bland smile as her husband strolled into the
    room and across to his seat. He wore a tight-fitting blue coat and
    black waistcoat with white pantaloons. Mentally Jane calculated
    how much it must cost to have a coat tailored so perfectly to a
    man’s form, reckoned it would be far more than the cost of a
    dress. Despite her inner fuming, she continued to smile.
    «Good evening, my lord.»
    Minshom turned to her, his expression guarded.
    «Are you still here? I thought you’d finally decided to go home
    in a huff.»
    «Oh no,» she said sweetly. «I’m having far too much fun to
    ever contemplate leaving.»