The Duchess

'No! No!' Lady Abbott quickly reassured him. 'We are well aware of your circumstances, Your Grace. A man of your breeding could hardly be called a fortune hunter, but I have it on the best authority that you are seeking a wife. Is this so?'

He nodded, a small smile playing at the corners of his lips.

'Would you consider a match between yourself and my niece?' Lady Abbott asked him bluntly.

'Yes,' the duke replied as frankly. It pleased his vanity that he had not had to come to them on bended knee. They had come to him, which was as it should be. Allegra Morgan would be marrying into the finest family in England. She would be the mother of its next generation of sons.

'Do you love her?' Lady Abbott queried him.

'No,' he responded. 'I do not believe love should be a factor in arranging a good match. My antecedents married for love. You see the result of their foolishness in my situation.'

'Your antecedents were also quite famous gamblers,' Lady Abbott reminded him, wondering briefly if she was really doing the right thing.

'I do not gamble. I have, in fact, an abhorrence of it as you may well understand. If a match can be arranged between Miss Morgan and myself, I promise you I will treat her with dignity and respect. We may even in the years to come gain an affection for each other,' the duke said. 'And, of course, she will be the Duchess of Sedgwick.'

Lord Morgan entered the garden, followed by Marker with a large silver tea tray.

'Put the tray on the table, Marker,' Lord Morgan said. 'Lady Abbott will pour today.'

'Very good, my lord,' Marker responded, setting the tray down, bowing, and departing back into the house.

Lord Morgan looked to his sister-in-law.

'His Grace has indicated, if I understand him correctly, that he would like to offer for Allegra,' Lady Abbott said tactfully.

'There are conditions, sir,' Lord Morgan said. 'Conditions you may not accept.'

'And they are?' the duke responded.

'Allegra is my heiress. When I die she inherits everything. This house, Morgan Court with its two thousand acres, my tea plantations, my trading shares, my ships, my companies, everything. I ain't ready to die by a long shot, however, so until I do I intend giving her an allowance of two hundred and fifty thousand pounds a year. It will be hers, and you can't touch it. You'll sign a paper to that effect, although no one has to know of our transaction. I'll also give you an equal allowance each year of two hundred and fifty thousand pounds. And I want your word that you'll treat my daughter with kindness. She ain't like any girl you'll ever meet. Got her mother's beauty and my intellect. If I know Allegra she'll take her allowance and invest much of it. She'll turn a profit, too. I've taught her well. And she can also do all those other female things Olympia thinks are so important, although maybe not well, but that's what servants are for, eh?'

'Your wife had but two children,' the duke said, voicing his only concern.

'Pandora didn't like children. After she had given me my son she decided her duties were done. When she deserted me I learned she had purposefully aborted three children before Allegra was born. Why she did not destroy my daughter I'll never know. Be assured, my daughter will be a good breeder for you.'

The duke nodded. It was obvious that his future father-in-law was an honest man. It had taken courage to expose his former wife's shortcomings. He obviously loved his daughter very much.

'Your daughter and I have not had the best of beginnings. She is still angry at me, I fear,' the duke said candidly.

Lord Morgan's stern face softened, and he chuckled. 'It was a wicked trick you played on her at the Bellingham ball. She fumed for a week, and has been considering ever since how best to repay you. She is a sensible girl, however, and will see the advantage to such a fine match as you propose. I will explain it to her when she returns later this afternoon.'

'When do you propose we set a wedding date?' the duke said.

'I understand that Hunter's Lair is not in the best of condition to receive a bride,' Lord Morgan told him. 'Tour home must be modernized and renovated, sir, before you wed Allegra. However, I would advise a formal announcement be made at my daughter's ball at the end of this month. In the meantime you and Allegra might attempt a detente between yourselves,' he finished with a smile.

'The tea will get cold if I do not pour it now,' Lady Abbott said. 'Oh, look! Cook has made those delightful little salmon and cucumber sandwiches you so like, Septimius!'

'Your niece's ball was lovely,' the duke said sociably. 'The decorations were as delicate as Lady Sirena herself. She is a charming girl. My friend, Viscount Pickford, is going to offer for her, Lady Abbott. I do not believe I speak out of turn by telling you this. You will know soon enough. Ocky has already spoken to his father, and the old earl is absolutely delighted by the possibility of such a match.'

'Ohh, I am so glad!' Lady Abbott said. 'Sirena has always wanted to be a June bride. We shall hold the wedding at St. George's on Hanover Square just as the season ends. I imagine they will leave London immediately afterward. Then I shall return home to my dower house.' She smiled. 'It's small, but at least I shall not have my daughter-in-law, Charlotte, glaring if I take a second piece of toast.'

They sat talking over their tea, and finally the duke arose.

'I had best depart before the picnickers return,' he said. 'You will want to speak with your daughter before we meet again.'

'We are going to Almack's tonight,' Lady Abbott volunteered.

'I will be there,' the duke promised her as he bowed over her hand. 'I hope Allegra will be.' Then he departed the garden.

Lady Abbott put a hand over her mouth, her eyes wide with what had just happened. Then, her hand falling away, she said, 'We have done it, Septimius! We have made Allegra a duchess! There hasn't been such a marriage coup since the Gunning sisters came over from Ireland with their father forty-four years ago! And Sirena, too! My baby will be a countess one day when old Pickford dies. It has certainly proved to be a very successful season so far, hasn't it?'

'Neither of them is at the altar yet, and Sirena will be far easier to get there than Allegra. She is in love. I am not sure that I do not feel a certain guilt about sending Allegra into a loveless union with the duke. Still, I cannot disagree with him regarding love. Look what love has brought me, too,' Lord Morgan said sadly. 'He seems a good man though. I have never heard anything untoward regarding his character. I believe he will be kind to my daughter.'

'We must get Allegra to be kind to him,' Lady Abbott replied with a small twinkle in her eye. 'I do not envy you your duty, Septimius. You will have to tell her immediately.'

'I know,' he answered. 'As soon as she returns we shall speak. Who was she with today?'

'Sirena and Pickford, of course, and young Rupert Tanner,' Lady Abbott answered.

'I wasn't aware Rupert was in London,' Lord Morgan said. 'You know he had the cheek to ask for Allegra before we came to London. I don't like it that he's come sniffing about. His father cannot get the idea out of his head of marrying his second son to my daughter.'

The day had suddenly grown overcast as spring weather was apt to do. Lord Morgan and Lady Abbott repaired indoors.

'When my daughter returns,' Lord Morgan told Marker, 'tell her I want