'No,' he quickly responded, 'Thank you.'
'Yes, Lady Abbott,' the duke answered.
'Your mother and I were distant cousins. We shared a great- grandparent, although I don't know which one,' she told him.
'Indeed, madame,' he replied. Then he turned to Allegra. 'Would you have a dance available for me, Miss Morgan?'
'Alas, Your Grace,' she quickly replied, 'but my card is full tonight. If we meet again during the season, I shall promise you the last dance on my card.' She gave him a faint smile.
He bowed, and without another word walked away with Viscount Pickford.
'Are you mad?' her aunt demanded. 'No one at all has asked you to dance yet.
'I did not like the way he looked at me, Aunt. As if I were a horse and he were judging my points,' Allegra said.
'Perhaps he is shortsighted,' her aunt replied. 'I can only hope you haven't insulted him so badly that he will not dance with you next time. You are just suffering from nerves, m'dear.'
Across the ballroom the Duke of Sedgwick watched Allegra and her aunt in their spirited conversation, a sardonic smile upon his face. 'She had not yet accepted a single dance,' he said to his friend, Viscount Pickford.
'But she said her card was full,' Ocky replied.
'She lied,' the duke answered him. 'Her open card was in full view.' Nonetheless he was amused more than insulted. This beautiful girl with her fabulous wealth and unimportant background had sent him away. She would, of course, pay for insulting him; and she would be aware she was being punished. He murmured something to Ocky.
The viscount chuckled. 'Do you really want to do that, Quint?'
'Miss Allegra Morgan and I must understand each other right from the beginning, Ocky,' the Duke of Sedgwick responded.
Allegra sat next to her aunt, waiting to be asked to dance. Sirena's card was shortly filled, but still no one had asked Allegra by the time the dancing had begun. She sat like stone in her beautiful gown as the other young women about her danced the night away. She refused to move when her aunt suggested they go into the banqueting room to visit the buffet. 'You may go if you wish,' she said, her head held high despite her embarrassment.
'I don't understand it,' moaned Lady Abbott helplessly.
'Why is Allegra not dancing?' demanded Lady Bellingham of Lady Abbott, once the situation had been brought to her attention.
'Someone started the rumor that her card was full,' Sirena said as her current partner brought her back to her seat.
'When I find out the mother who did this,' Lady Bellingham said furiously, 'I will ruin her! 'Tis cruel! Cruel beyond imagining!'
The musicians on the balcony began tuning up their instruments for the minuet, the last dance of the evening. Suddenly the Duke of Sedgwick was standing before Allegra. He bowed politely, his face a mask of civility.
'I believe, Miss Morgan, that this is our dance,' he said.
Allegra's eyes widened but she could not under the circumstances refuse him. She arose stiffly, and gave him her hand. Her silence was very eloquent.
'Hasn't a crumb to his name, thanks to his father, and grandfather,' Lady Bellingham said as the couple disappeared onto the dance floor. 'The estate is completely intact, I am told, but the house is in bad repair. Still,' her gray eyes narrowed thoughtfully, 'I suspect if Allegra wanted to be a duchess, she could have him. What a coup for you all, Olympia! We must look into the possibilities.'
'He is said to be very proud of his bloodline, Clarice. Allegra can't match him there,' Lady Abbott replied.
'But he is as poor as a church mouse, Olympia. His blue blood will dry up, and his line be gone if he doesn't find a rich wife. There isn't another girl here this season whose fortune can even come near to Allegra's. Her wealth can buy her a duke.'
'She doesn't like him,' Lady Abbott said. 'She said he looked her over as if she were a horse he was contemplating buying.'
Lady Bellingham laughed heartily. 'I am sure he did, but then he has rescued her from oblivion by dancing the last dance with her, Olympia. She will be grateful for that.'
'I think it is he who started the rumor her dance card was full,' Lady Abbott told her friend. 'He asked her to dance before, and she claimed her card was full when in reality no one had asked her yet. I think he played a jest on her to teach her a lesson.'
'Why the devil!' Lady Bellingham chuckled. 'I shall have to talk to him about playing such wicked tricks.'
'Allegra will be furious,' Lady Abbott replied. 'She will find a way to repay him in kind, I am certain.'
'Then they are indeed well matched,' Lady Bellingham answered. 'Quinton Hunter is overproud with regard to his heritage, and your niece, being the richest young lady in England, will not allow anyone to lord it over her. I see a wonderful match in the making, Olympia! It is up to us to nurture it along. There isn't a mother in the room tonight who would give their daughter over to this penniless duke. This is a great opportunity! What did you hope for at best?'
'A viscount, or an earl,' Lady Abbott responded.
'But we have the chance of a duke, m'dear,' Lady Bellingham said. 'Ohh, it will be the talk of the season, and to think it all happened at my ball!'
Chapter 3
April passed, and as the lilacs in Lord Morgan's London garden came into bloom, it was obvious that despite Allegra's best efforts to discourage the Duke of Sedgwick, Quinton Hunter could not be dissuaded from paying her his court. At each ball he took up more and more of her dance card until it became the subject of much gossip. Allegra was furious, but there was little she could do about the situation. There was no other gentleman in whom she had the slightest interest at all. Worse, it had become quite obvious that young Viscount Pickford and Sirena had fallen in love. Sirena had little time now for her cousin, and wasn't in the least bit sympathetic regarding the duke's behavior. She thought Allegra mad not to encourage the duke.
Knowing the two girls were going on a picnic up the river one afternoon, Lady Abbott, with her brother-in-law's approval, invited the duke to tea. When he was shown into the garden she thought again what a very handsome man he was. The duke kissed her hand, and at her behest sat down opposite her.
Lady Abbott got right to the point. 'You have spent the last month taking up a great deal of my niece's time, Your Grace. I have been authorized by Lord Morgan to inquire of you regarding your intentions toward Allegra.'
'Do you consider me a fortune hunter then, madame?' he asked, his tone cold.
