When one is the rightful heir and the other wants everything just for himself. Josephine realised that she was caught in the middle of a succession war.
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"I see what you mean."
"What are you talking about?" Josephine asked as she stood before the mirror, waiting patiently while her maid buttoned the last of the buttons on her traveling suit.
"Your duke. The way that he stares. I'd never noticed before. But he begins to get this look on his face as though he's popped over to France or somewhere equally boring."
"I thought you liked France."
"I like the way Frenchmen kiss."
"When did you ever kiss a Frenchman?"
"Wouldn't you like to know?"
Josephine captured her sister's challenging gaze reflected in the mirror.
"If you've kissed a Frenchman then I'm not a virgin."
"Won't your husband be surprised when he discovers that?"
Her maid, Charity, cleared her throat.
"You're teasing me," Josephine stated.
"Am I?"
"If you've truly kissed a Frenchman then tell me what I don't know about kisses."
"Why must you always call my bluff?"
"Because you always bluff," Josephine said, again looking in the mirror, watching as Charity worked to arrange her hair so her hat would sit perfectly at an angle. "I think he's missing his brother."
"Who?"
Josephine rolled her eyes. "The duke. That's who we were talking about. Honestly, sometimes I think there's something amiss with you, the way you speed through conversations."
"I'm just always so frightfully bored. I want to get onto the next thing. So you think he misses his brother?"
Katherine also had a habit of jumping back and forth between conversations. Josephine had to stay on her toes sometimes to keep up with her.
"Yes, I think that's the reason he seems not quite himself today. We were discussing his brother on the drive over. A special bond exists between twins. I think that makes it all the harder when they're separated. Don't you think?"
"I think I shall miss you desperately when you're no longer here. And we're not twins."
"Thank God. You have a funny nose," Josephine said, striving to keep the mood light when she knew it was in danger of becoming filled with the sadness of parting. She'd never been away from home without her family before.
"Better a funny nose than a spot on my cheek," Katherine retorted.
"It's called a beauty mark."
"The duke stares at it as though he's never seen one."
