Deceived

'He was the king's tutor, and quite close to the king's mother, I am told. He will certainly arrange an introduction to their majesties for you and Valerian. I shall write him tomorrow.'

'You must tell me how many servants we will need to run Farminster House properly,' Aurora said, and the two women put their heads together, chattering away, much to the duke's chagrin.

He did not want to go up to London, and he would wager that Aurora didn't want to go either. She was simply being good-natured about their rather sticky social situation. Damn his nosy neighbors! What did they know of his misery, or Calandra's, during the months of their marriage? And they most certainly did not know that Aurora was the bride he should have married, and not her sister. His grandmother, with the willing help of the silly Lady Bowen, however, would manage to get everything straightened out eventually.

'We will be home May first,' he announced to the two women.

'You are not giving me a great deal of time, are you, Valerian?' his grandmother said, 'But I expect I can manage to wipe away most of your sins by then, and as Aurora was but your innocent victim, yes, the first of May will be all right.' She chuckled at the outraged look on his handsome face.

Messages were dispatched the following day to the Earl of Bute and to Farminster House. The trunks were packed and the baggage cart filled up with everything they would need for their stay in London. There would be a carriage for the duke and duchess, and one for their servants. Several riding horses would travel with them so Valerian and Aurora might have an alternate means of transport when they chose not to travel within the confines of their coach. A rider had already been dispatched ahead to arrange for their accommodations in local inns. There would be an armed guard to protect them from highwaymen.

'You are being very good about this,' the dowager said to Aurora the evening before their departure.

The younger woman smiled ruefully. 'How well you know me, Grandmama,' she responded. 'Yes, I should rather remain here, but I know if we are to regain our reputations we must go up to London for a time. There were those who knew Cally there, and I shall be nothing but honest with them regarding this startling change of duchesses,' she chuckled. 'If I am not, we shall just get in deeper.'

'Be honest,' the dowager agreed, 'but clever, my child. You need only say your sister died in childbirth, and that when Valerian learned it was really you he should have wed, he did before you might escape him again. Say it lightly, and make it amusing. There will be those who will be shocked, but mostly society will accept the situation with a wink and a chuckle. They have heard far worse tales, and as long as you and your husband are reconciled to each other, where is the harm? You will be readily accepted, and quite presentable to their majesties. Then, after you have amused yourselves for a few months, return home to us at Hawkes Hill. Certainly a new scandal will have arisen by then to overshadow this one.' She kissed Aurora on both of her cheeks. 'Oh, I shall miss you, my dear child!'

'Come with us!' Aurora begged her.

The dowager smiled and shook her head. 'No,' she said. 'I must remain here to make things right again for you and my grandson. Besides, I think it is time you had a honeymoon, don't you? Grandmothers do not belong on honeymoons with their grandchildren,' she finished with a small chuckle. And the next morning she waved them off with a brave smile, knowing even as she did so how empty and lonely the house would be for the next few months while they were away.

The trip to London was uneventful. The roads remained dry, to everyone's amazement. The inns were comfortable, if dull. Finally the spires and towers of the city could be seen in the yellow-gray haze that hung over London during the cold months, a result of the coal fires burned in each house to keep its inhabitants warm. Finally the carriages and baggage coach turned into Grosvenor Square, moving around to the west side of the common, where Farminster House was located. Almost immediately after they had stopped, the door to the brick mansion was thrown open, and a column of footmen hurried out to aid them in disembarking and to take the baggage.

'Welcome back to London, your grace, and the staff's felicitations on your marriage,' Manners, the butler, said, bowing elegantly. 'And welcome to her grace as well.' He bent himself in Aurora's direction.

'Our thanks,' the duke acknowledged with a smile. 'Is dinner ready? I think her grace and I should like something to eat, and then to bed. It has been a long day, and our trip was tiring.'

'Immediately, my lord,' the butler replied. 'There are several messages for you that have come in the last day or two.'

'And you have seen to my instructions?' the duke asked.

'Of course, my lord,' Manners replied in plummy tones that suggested he was slightly offended his master did not understand that an order given was one obeyed. 'Shall I bring your grace his messages?'

The duke nodded. 'Please,' he said, and then turned to Aurora. 'I have a surprise for you if you will but wait a moment.' Then he turned without waiting for an answer and took the messages from the silver salver the butler proffered. 'Bute,' he told her, noting the seal on the first missive. He broke the seal, and opening it, scanned the contents quickly. 'The earl welcomes us to London and will arrange for us to meet their majesties,' he said, laying the note aside and reaching for the next one. 'This is addressed to you.' He handed it to her.

Aurora snapped the sealing wax on the paper and opened it. 'Oh, Lord,' she said. 'It is from Trahern for Cally. He doesn't know she is deceased and wants to call on her.'

'How I wish we could arrange it,' Valerian said wickedly.

'What am I to do?' she demanded. 'It is not amusing, Valerian!'

'I'll send a footman around to Trahern's lodging to say the Duchess of Farminster will receive him in the morning. It's just the sort of thing Cally would have done. She wouldn't have bothered to write,' the duke noted.

'And when he arrives?' Aurora said.

'We will both receive him,' her husband replied, 'and explain the situation. Trahern will have our arrival trumpeted throughout polite society before tomorrow is out. How the hell did he know we were here anyway?' Valerian wondered. 'I must remember to ask him.'

'More than likely, one of his servants is friendly with one of the servants in this house,' Aurora noted. 'Now, what is my surprise?'

He laughed, and kissed her mouth quickly. 'You are such a greedy creature,' he teased her, and then, turning to the butler, he said, 'Send a message to Lord Trahern that we will receive him tomorrow at eleven o'clock in the morning.' Then, without waiting for an answer he took his wife by the arm and escorted her upstairs. 'Knowing your aversion to your sister's things, I have had the duchess's rooms redone for your arrival,' he told her, flinging open the doors to what had been Cally's suite.

Stepping inside, Aurora clapped her hands in delight. It looked nothing like the rooms Cally had commanded. The woodwork was painted in a pale golden-cream color-the moldings, the chair rails, and below the chair rails. Above, the walls were covered in peach-colored silk painted with hummingbirds and butterflies. Only the mural on the ceiling remained the same, but Aurora didn't care. She had always thought the ceiling painting of Venus and her band of cupids charming. The furniture was of polished mahogany, and the upholstered pieces were done in gilt, silks, and velvet. The chandelier, the wall sconces, and the candelabra were all sparkling Waterford crystal. Coral-colored velvet drapes with gold rope tie-backs hung from the windows. The polished wood floors were partly covered with a magnificent Turkey carpet in gold and blue.

Aurora hurried through to her bedchamber and sighed with pleasure. Here the walls were decorated in gold silk with cream and gold butterflies, and cream-colored lilies with their narrow leaves just touched with a grayish green. The woodwork was cream, and the ceiling filled with pink, lavender, and white clouds floating in a blue sky amid a troupe of plump cupids. The draperies at the windows were the blue of a southern sea, their tiebacks heavy gold ropes.

There was a mahogany Chippendale chest of drawers over which hung a carved and gilt Chippendale wall mirror crested with two Argus pheasants. In the curve of the window was a gilt