“I am not such a ninny, Quinton, that I would offend the prince,” she told him. “But I assume I may be honest with you.”
“You must always be honest with me,” he said as he helped her back into the coach.
She fell asleep on the ride back into town, her head against his shoulder. What an interesting girl she was, he thought. Mayhap it would not be such a bad match. She might not have a glittering pedigree, but she had manners and was as accomplished as any noble lady. Perhaps even more so. While extremely outspoken, he did not think she was flighty in the least. Her father said she knew how to manage her funds, and God knows that was more than most women knew. Quinton Hunter recalled an ancient aunt from his youth, now long dead. She was always saying he should marry someone of less vaunted family than his own.
“Get some new fresh blood into the line, boy,” she would growl at him. “Overbreeding is the ruination of most good families, I tell you. A healthy wench will breed you up more sons than any high-flown miss. Remember what I say, boy!”
Strange that he did remember the old woman’s words, but only now that he was betrothed to Miss Allegra Morgan. He turned his head to look down at her. Her dark curls were quite tumbled now. He gently fingered one, and a gentle whiff of her fragrance assailed his nostrils. It was the scent of lilacs, his favorite flowers. How odd, or wonderful, that it should be her perfume. Outside the coach windows the city was coming alive. The vehicle turned into Berkley Square and stopped before Lord Morgan’s fine town house. The duke, unable to help himself, bent and kissed Allegra’s smooth brow.
“You are home, my dear,” he said quietly. “Wake up, now.”
“Ummm.” The violet eyes opened slowly in confusion and then comprehension, as she realized where she was. “I slept all the way home?” She sounded surprised.
A footman ran from the house to open the carriage door. He helped his young mistress to descend. The duke followed. In the round foyer he gave her a chaste kiss on the lips in farewell.
“I shall call for you at three o’clock this afternoon so we may promenade through the park in my landau. Now that we are formally engaged it will be expected that we be seen together daily.”
“I have a fitting for my bridesmaid gown,” Allegra said.
“At three?”
“I don’t know when. I just know today,” she replied.
“Have a footman bring ’round a note to me when you know,” he said. Then he bowed, and turning, departed.
Slowly Allegra ascended the staircase. On the ballroom floor footmen and maidservants were still dismantling the décor. She climbed a second flight to the bedroom floor. Entering her bedchamber she saw that Honor, her maid, was sleeping in a chair beside the fading coals of a once-bright fire. “I’m back, Honor,” she said.
The servant’s eyes opened, and then seeing her mistress she jumped to her feet. “Ohh, Miss Allegra, what time is it?”
“Almost seven o’clock,” Allegra answered glancing at the clock on her mantel.
“In the morning?” Honor sounded shocked. “Why Miss Allegra, you’ve been dancing all night long. Even after all these weeks in the city I’m not used to such hours as you have had to keep.”
“We drove out to the countryside and saw the sunrise,” Allegra told her maidservant.
“Who? Who was with you, and does your papa know?” Honor was seven years older than her mistress, and extremely protective. Like Allegra she had been born and raised at Morgan Court. She counted her young lady almost like family.
“Ohh, Honor! You do not know, and I promised to tell you. I am to marry the Duke of Sedgwick in the autumn. We are going to live in Hereford, not more than a day’s journey from Morgan Court.”
“That high-flown gentleman who spoiled your first ball? Is that the one you’re going to marry? You can’t love him, miss. Why you hardly know him,” Honor said indignantly.
“That is why our marriage is scheduled for October, and not for June like Sirena’s. Shortly after we get home we will go to Hunter’s Lair so I may oversee the renovations and the restorations that are needed. I have to marry, Honor. You know that. The duke is, I am assured, an honorable man, but he is poor. I shall be a duchess when I become his wife. He shall be a rich man the moment he weds me. It is an ideal arrangement, and this summer we shall have the opportunity to become acquainted. There will be no surprises when we are married.”
“There’re always surprises, miss,” Honor said dourly as she helped her mistress from her ball gown. “I wish that you could fall in love like Lady Sirena and her nice young gentleman. Your mama married for money, and look what happened there.”
“But the duke’s family always married for love, and now they are as poor as church mice,” Allegra replied. “The duke and I are entering into this marriage with no illusions at all. I believe that I am actually beginning to like him, and I certainly think that he likes me. We shall become great friends, I am certain, and our marriage shall be quite successful, Honor. Now what time does Madame Paul arrive for my fitting?”
“Eleven o’clock, miss,” was the response.
“Then I must get some rest before she comes,” Allegra said. “Wake me at ten-thirty with a cup of hot chocolate. Madame can measure me here, and then I shall retire back to bed until I must get up and dressed to go out with the duke this afternoon.”
“Yes, miss. Where will you be going so I may lay out the proper garments?” Honor asked.
“We are going riding in his landau through the park,” Allegra said. “We are expected to be seen together now, and wish to show each other off to the envious ladies and gentlemen of the ten thousand.” Allegra chuckled as she climbed into her bed. “Oh lord, Honor, I am so tired,” she said, lying back. Her eyes closed, and she was suddenly fast asleep.
“Without even washing her face and hands,” Honor said, shaking her head. “Poor lass. She’ll be as glad as me to return to the country. This social life with all its running about isn’t for us.”
Madame Paul arrived promptly at eleven o’clock in the morning. She already knew about Allegra’s engagement to the Duke of Sedgwick. “I shall take your measurements for your wedding gown as well, Miss Morgan,” she said. “Of course you will want me to do it, won’t you?”
“Of course,” Allegra agreed, although the truth was she hadn’t even considered her wedding gown yet. “I will come up to London in late September for a final fitting.”
“Nonsense, I shall come to Morgan Court, miss. It wouldn’t be proper for the future Duchess of Sedgwick to come into my shop,” Madame Paul replied. “Francine, the bridesmaid’s gown, if you please. Let us see what needs to be done.”
Allegra was to be Sirena’s attendant when she wed on the tenth of June. Her gown was high waisted with lace oversleeves. It was cream-colored silk sprigged with lilac flowers. A purple velvet ribbon ran beneath her breasts, and tied in a small bow at her back. She would wear a large summer straw hat trimmed with feathers and purple ribbons. “It’s a lovely gown,” Allegra told Madame Paul.
“It suits you,” the Frenchwoman said quietly. “Now, Miss Morgan, let us allow you to return to bed. I shall come before you leave London so we may decide upon the material and style of your own wedding gown.”
Back in her bed Allegra pondered on her new status. Madame had, of course, always been polite and deferential to her. She was after all the richest girl in England. But there was something different now. Some indefinable thing that had to do with becoming the Duchess of Sedgwick.
When Allegra was awakened next it was past two o’clock in the afternoon. “I want a bath,” she said.
“There isn’t time,” Honor replied. “You won’t be ready when the duke comes if you take a bath now.”
“Then the duke will wait,” Allegra responded. “I want a bath!”
“Yer not married yet,” Honor grumbled going to the door and telling one of the footmen that “Miss” wanted the bath water brought.
“He’ll not cry off because I
took a bath,” Allegra laughed. “After all, it’s all for him, isn’t it? Now, what dress have you picked for me to wear on our drive?”
Honor displayed the chosen garment. It was a simple gown of green-sprigged white muslin with a pleated hem, high waist, low neckline, and little puffed sleeves. A bright green ribbon tied about the waistline. The skirt was slightly puffed out in a style called bouffant.
Allegra giggled. “It’s so virgin sacrifice,” she said almost to herself. Still, she knew it was very appropriate. “It’s quite nice, Honor,” she told her maid. “No bonnet though. I shall carry a parasol instead. If I keep it open in the carriage I can protect my skin from the sun, but I will be quite visible to everyone. A bonnet would obscure my features. Let there be no mistake today that it is I with the duke, and not some other woman.”
Honor shook her head. “I don’t know you anymore,” she said. “The city ain’t good for you, Miss Allegra. I never knew you to be so … so deliberate.”
“But I am, Honor, if only for a few more days. I think of all those girls who spoke to Sirena, but would deliberately ignore me because my papa was only Lord Morgan, and not an earl, or a duke, or some other high muckety-muck. How they scorned me for being the heiress of the richest man in England. I pretended not to notice those snubs, and even ignored them. But last night after my betrothal to the duke was announced, girls who had never uttered a word to me the entire season were suddenly fawning over me. Just because I am marrying a duke! Until we return home I have full intention of swanning about London with my prize catch. When I am the Duchess of Sedgwick, they shall all have to give way to me socially!”
“Miss Allegra!” Honor cried shocked. “I never knew you had such meanness and spite in you. Your papa and your aunt would be very unhappy to hear such words as I have just heard from your mouth.”
“Ohh, Honor, I don’t mean to be unkind, but you have no idea what it was like for me. If they weren’t being snobbish about my lineage, they were jealous of Papa’s wealth. In some cases both. I don’t know what’s wrong with having a fortune. While parents seem to approve of it, other young ladies don’t.” She laughed. “How ridiculous I must sound, dear Honor.” Allegra hugged her servant. “Do not be angry at me. I promise I shall not be obnoxious about becoming a duchess. I shall only preen ever so slightly in public.”
“Ohh, miss, I couldn’t stay angry with you,” Honor said with a reassuring smile. She was more aware than her young mistress knew of what the girl had had to put up with this season. The servants had a gossip mill that never closed. Still, Honor thought, her young lady was the best of them all no matter her breeding. And she’d have no one say otherwise!
The bath was made ready; the footmen hurrying up the back stairs with their buckets of hot water. Honor poured a bit of oil of lilac into the porcelain tub, and then set a painted screen about it so Allegra, who preferred bathing herself, could have some privacy. Then the maid laid out her mistress’s petticoats and stockings. Allegra did not like the pink silk tights that were considered the height of fashion. She preferred stockings and garters.
When she had bathed, Allegra sat while Honor brushed her dark hair. Then she put on her stockings, which were held up with small garters sewn round with tiny rosettes; and two silk petticoats. She stood silent as Honor buttoned up her gown, and then sat while the maid dressed her hair into a mass of ringlets which she decorated with a bright green ribbon. Allegra then slipped her feet into balletlike slippers, and helped herself to a pair of coral earrings and a thin strand of coral beads to wear about her neck. She looked at herself in the mirror and smiled.
“I’ll get yer parasol,” Honor said as Allegra stood up. The clock on the mantle struck three.
Allegra smiled again. “You see, I shall not be late at all. Perhaps I should keep him waiting just to emphasize that I am not at his beck and call.” Her violet eyes twinkled mischievously as a knock sounded upon her bedchamber door.
Honor shook a warning finger at her mistress, and hurried to answer the knock. A footman stood on the other side of the door. The two servants murmured, and then turning, Honor said, “His lordship is downstairs. I have said you will be down immediately. Do you want that nice little lace fichu for your shoulders? I know it’s June, but there could be a chill in the park. Won’t do to have you catching a sniffle now.” Not even waiting for her mistress’s answer she fetched the delicate shawl, and hurried downstairs after her young lady.
Honor curtsied to the duke, and put the lace fichu about Allegra’s shoulders. He nodded slightly. Oh my, the maid thought. He is handsome, but he don’t look easy. Miss Allegra is taking on more than she realizes, I think. She watched as the newly engaged pair made their way from the foyer and down the front steps where the duke helped Allegra into a handsome landau, then joined her. As the vehicle drew away Honor considered they would be the richest couple in all of England; their children would have the bluest blood; and they were certainly the handsomest pair of people she had ever seen.
Chapter Five
“Your gown is charming,” the duke told Allegra as the landau pulled away from the house. “Why do you wear no bonnet?”
Allegra opened her parasol, and adjusted it. “Because I wish to be seen, and I assume you wish to be seen with me as well.”
“Ahh,” he said, immediately understanding, “you are ready to take your revenge.” She was proud, and pride was something he well understood. He favored her with a faint smile.
“Do you not wish to take your revenge too, my lord? How many mamas of more modest heiresses shooed their daughters out of your path with no regard for your exemplary family, because of your bare purse?”
“I am not certain I am comfortable that you understand me so well, so quickly,” the duke said to her candidly.
She blushed at his remark, but replied spiritedly, “If our marriage is to be a successful venture, my lord, I must certainly understand you, and you me.”
“How old are you?” he asked her.
“You don’t know? I am seventeen. I will be eighteen on the ninth of December. How old did you think I was?” It suddenly occurred to her that they really didn’t know anything at all about each other. Nothing. Their match had been made for other reasons. She began to worry her lower lip with her teeth.
Quinton Hunter was equally astounded by the reality that he knew naught about this girl except that she was rich. And, of course, there was the gossip about her mother. “Seventeen is a fine age to become a wife,” he said slowly. “I was thirty-one this April third past, Allegra. I suppose that seems very old for you.”
“You are not as old as my father,” she replied frankly. “I think a husband should be older than a wife.”
He laughed aloud, and she saw a flash of white teeth. “I suppose I deserved that,” he responded.
“You are even more handsome when you laugh,” Allegra noted.
“So you think me handsome, do you?” He chuckled. “You are very beautiful, but then, of course, you know that. Beautiful and rich were all the congratulations I heard last night.”
“The women were confined to: ‘A duke! A duke, my dear!’ ” She laughed. “Please tell me we do not have to live in London, my lord. I really do not enjoy this world that is so regulated and rigid. At least in the country we will be accepted as a plain married couple, and not some rule by which all other heiresses and poor, but noble gentlemen are to be judged by in future seasons.”
“I thought you wished to take your revenge, Allegra. You must become a famous hostess giving outrageous balls, and other entertainments. You must run up enormous debts in the best gambling halls like the Duchess of Devonshire. You must set the fashion. You cannot do it by living an anonymous existence in the country.”
“No, thank you,” Allegra said. “I shall have my own back in the next few weeks on the silly chits who have snubbed me. If the kind of lady you describe is the kind of lady you want to wed, then I am not that lady, my lord. I am appalled at the amount of money
my papa has expended in just this one season on Sirena and me. Our weddings will cost a fortune. Invested, that money would have yielded a handsome profit. Now it is all gone. As for gambling, I am as opposed to it as are you. Another waste of both time and good coin.”
“How do you invest your monies?” he asked her, curious.
“In foreign trade mostly,” Allegra told him. “I also own a little spinning mill in Yorkshire that makes thread, and interest in several wagon way routes. I have the controlling interest in one route that is entirely built with cast iron rails.”
“It is amazing that a young girl as yourself should find interest in such matters,” the duke remarked. “Most girls spend their time at less rigorous pursuits.”
“Why?” Allegra demanded. “Women have intellects as well as men. If they are educated, they are capable of almost anything,” she told him. “Education is the key to everything. I intend to see that our daughters, as well as our sons, are educated to the utmost.”
“You say women are capable of almost anything,” he replied.
“I don’t think I should like to be a member of the local fire brigade,” Allegra answered him with a chuckle.
The duke’s borrowed landau had now turned into the park where they joined the throng of other carriages parading through the greensward this June afternoon. There were also a number of ladies and gentlemen riding upon beautiful horses. Allegra leaned back and feigned boredom. There was that appalling Lady Hackney and her buck-toothed daughter, Lavinia. She ignored their desperate attempts to catch her eye.
“Nicely done,” the duke murmured. He reached for her little hand, and raising it to his lips, kissed it as another carriage carrying the Countess of Brotherton and her daughter passed by. The Brotherton girl’s dowry had been generous, but not showy. Her mama had made a great point of seeing her darling daughter was allowed nowhere near the poverty-stricken Duke of Sedgwick. He had found himself greatly offended even though he knew better. The girl would have to come back next season as she had failed in the husband hunt this year. And her papa would have to increase her dowry, for she wasn’t the prettiest of creatures.
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