curiously.
'We are going to the sea,' the viscount said. 'I have cousins with a cottage in Devon. They will be in Kent then at their home, and so they have given us the cottage for as long as we want it. It comes fully staffed. Have you and Quinton discussed your trip, Miss Morgan?'
'We didn't even get around to discussing the wedding date.' Allegra chuckled. 'Lady Bellingham descended upon us like a storm, and decided it all for us. Perhaps tomorrow when Quinton comes to luncheon we will consider it.' Then she patted the viscount upon the arm. 'You are marrying my favorite cousin, Ocky. I do think it would be permissible for you to call me by my Christian name.' Then with a smile at them, she departed the garden salon, hurrying upstairs.
Honor brought her mistress her supper upon a tray. Allegra wanted nothing more than to recover from the excitement of the last few days. Her father joined her after he and her aunt had dined with Sirena and Ocky.
'Are you all right, my child?' Lord Morgan asked his daughter.
'Just tired, Papa,' she responded with a small yawn.
'Are you happy?' he said.
Allegra thought a moment, then answered, 'I am not unhappy, Papa. The duke is a pleasant and most agreeable fellow. I am very anxious to see Hunter's Lair.' She yawned again.
'It is not as large as Morgan Court, my dear, but its lineage is most impressive. And, of course, it has more lands than the court,' her father answered. 'I am going to leave my home to your second son, Allegra. I hope you will approve.'
'I am not yet wed, Papa,' she replied, 'and you already have me producing two sons. What of my daughters?'
'The daughters of a duke with Quinton Hunter's bloodline, and the dowries you will be able to give them, will have no difficulties in finding mates. It is the sons who come after the first son who need to find a place in this world. Therefore your second son shall have Morgan Court when I die one day. If there are other boys, we shall manage to provide for them, I promise you, my child.'
'What if you remarry, Papa? Would you dispossess your widow?'
'Allegra…,' he began, and then stopped.
'You love my aunt, Papa.' She took his hand in hers. 'She has been widowed for several years now. There is nothing to prevent you from asking her to be your wife. Both Sirena and I fully approve, Papa,' Allegra said quietly.
'Do you?' he replied, his look suddenly amused.
'We do, Papa,' Allegra told him seriously, releasing the hand.
'And do you think your aunt would accept an offer of marriage from me? We have been good friends for many years. Perhaps that is all she is willing to give of herself. I should dislike to spoil the friendship I have with Olympia.'
'You will never know, Papa, unless you ask her,' Allegra told him wisely. 'I am virtually gone from Morgan Court. Do you really think my aunt would prefer the little dower house at Rowley to being the undisputed mistress of Morgan Court? Sirena and I have often spoken on it. We want you happy together.'
'But what if she says
'Is
'As I recall you seemed to think so when you were a little girl,' her father teased her. He arose from her bedside where he had been sitting. 'Get your rest now, Allegra. Sirena's wedding is but nine days away, and then we shall return home.'
'You will ask Aunt Olympia before we leave London?' she queried him.
'I will think on it, Allegra,' and bending, he gave her a kiss upon her forehead. Then he left the room.
His daughter's words had made a strong impression upon Septimius Morgan. While he was delighted with his daughter's engagement, and her bright future, the thought of spending the rest of his life alone had been a bleak one. Was Allegra right? Would Olympia accept an offer of marriage from him? Entering his library he found the object of his thoughts sitting by the fire. She looked up and smiled.
'I hope you do not mind my being here, Septimius. Sirena and her beloved are billing and cooing in the salon. I very much felt like a fifth wheel, I fear.'
'Shall I pour you a sherry?' he asked her, and when she nodded he filled two glasses upon the tray and brought her one. Then he sat in the tapestried backed chair opposite her. 'We shall both soon be alone, Olympia,' he remarked tentatively. 'Morgan Court is such a large place for just one man, and the dower house at Rowley is much too small.'
'Yes, it is,' she replied.
'I should not like to spoil our friendship, Olympia, but perhaps we might take a suggestion that Allegra assures me both she and Sirena approve. Perhaps we should marry.'
'To whom?' Lady Abbott asked him, but her heart was fluttering.
'To each other, my dearest Olympia,' he said, laughing. Then he slipped from his chair, and knelt beside her. 'Will you marry me, Olympia? Will you make me the happiest of men so we may spend our twilight years together? I realize that becoming Lady Morgan is a bit of a step-down from Dowager Marchioness of Rowley, but I hope you will consider it.' He looked hopefully up at her.
Her hand had gone to her mouth to stifle her cry at his proposal. Her plump and pretty features were rosy with both her surprise, and her pleasure. Finally, her hand dropped away, and she said, 'I could only marry a man who loved me, Septimius.'
He stood, and taking her hands in his drew her up so they were facing each other. 'But I do love you, Olympia. I believe I always have, though I dared not voice such sentiments while you were yet married to another. You are everything that your sister was not. Kind and wise and gentle. If you do not want to remarry, I will understand. I only beg you not to allow it to spoil our friendship.'
Olympia Abbott stood on her toes, and kissed Lord Morgan's lips softly. 'Of course I will marry you, Septimius,' she said. 'I never had any intention of allowing some other woman to snap you up now that Allegra is going to be leaving you.'
'We will wed before Allegra's marriage,' he said firmly.
'The day after Sirena and young Pickford are wed,' he said with a chuckle. 'That way both our girls will be able to attend us. Then Sirena and Ocky will depart on their wedding trip. You will come home with Allegra and me. We'll go to Rowley to get your possessions after Allegra is settled at Hunter's Lair. Then, you and I shall have the entire summer to ourselves. Next winter I shall take you to Italy.' He gave her a hearty kiss. 'Italy is very romantic, Olympia.'
Lady Abbott actually blushed. 'Ohh, Septimius,' she said softly. 'I should very much like to see Italy.'
'We'll spend the winter in a villa outside of Naples,' he promised her, 'and then in the spring we shall go to Rome and to Venice.'
'I have never been outside of England,' she told him, and then her face darkened. 'But, Septimius, what if we should meet my sister and her husband? Perhaps we should not go to Italy.'
'Mayhap, my dear, we should seek out Pandora and her count,' Lord Morgan said.
