'Excellent!' the prince approved, arising from the table, and offering his arm to Lady Johnstone. 'Do you gamble, m'dear?' he asked her.
'I adore it, Your Highness, but alas, I am a widow, in modest circumstances,' she replied. She was a striking woman with dark red hair, very white skin, a lush form, and warm amber eyes.
'Allow me to stake you, m'dear,' the prince said, smiling broadly.
'But how shall I ever pay you back, Your Highness?' she replied.
'Not to worry, m'dear. We shall come to some little arrangement, I am certain,' Prinny purred, letting his blue eyes wander to her deep cleavage. He led her off to the drawing room where the tables had been set up.
'Come, Lady Perry,' young Mr. Brummell said, offering that lady his arm. 'You, too, I am certain, will eventually find favor with his highness.'
'Do you really think so?' Georgianna said ingenuously.
'Oh, yes,' Mr. Brummell predicted, and led her off after the prince.
'If you continue to entertain like this you will never get rid of him,' Caroline teased Allegra when Brummell was out of their hearing.
'You certainly picked him the right partner for his evening's entertainment,' Eunice told her hostess mischievously. ' 'Oh, how shall I ever pay you back, sir?' ' she mimicked Lady Johnstone.
'I would die if he looked at me
'Allegra chose just the perfect guests,' the duke said quietly. 'Both Lady Perry and her sister are women of the world, and experienced. They will keep Prinny amused in the evenings. Then perhaps he will not remain up all night playing cards, and we can go to bed with our beautiful wives.'
The other gentlemen laughed, as the ladies blushed prettily.
'Poor Quint has been forced to make a fourth at Whist before we arrived, but refused to play for stakes,' Ocky said. 'Prinny wasn't very happy.'
'They played for English counties instead. Quinton was given Worcester, Hereford, and Wales to start; but he would have been king of England in just another night the way Prinny plays,' Allegra said frankly. 'I am not certain he fully understands the game at all. He wants to win, but he is too rash.'
'We had best join our guests,' the duke told them, smiling at his wife's little sally.
The prince, Brummell, and their two ladies were already deep into a game when the others entered the drawing room. There was another table set up. Lord Walworth, the earl, and Ocky, along with Lady Walworth, sat down to cards. Allegra went to the piano and began to play while the duke turned the pages for her. The other women sat talking and listening.
'You are amazing,' Quinton Hunter said softly to his wife. 'We have been married less than a week, and you are entertaining as if you had been my duchess your whole life, Allegra. The prince has already told me half a dozen times how much he is enjoying himself.' He dropped a kiss atop her dark head.
'I am happy you are pleased, my lord,' she answered, her heart racing just a bit faster as she felt his lips. Then she looked up at him and smiled mischievously. 'Please do not think that I shall allow such lavish meals to be served when we are alone. I do not want you looking like Prinny. I have noted that you have an appetite for sweets, for you ate two slices of Genovese cake, not to mention a lemon tart and some chocolate souffle tonight.'
'They were delicious,' he replied with a chuckle. 'I was not aware cook knew the recipe for Genovese cake.'
'She didn't. I gave her Aunt Mama's recipe book. My stepmother had copies made for both Sirena and for me,' Allegra told him. 'Once the guests are gone, sir, it will be a simple life, and simple meals for us.'
'If the truth be known, Allegra, and I think it no secret to our friends, you are the only sweet I truly desire,' the duke told her.
She stopped playing, and looked up at him. 'Will you always say such lovely things to me, Quinton?'
'Yes, Allegra, I will,' he vowed. 'Believe me, no one is more surprised than I to find myself in this particular situation. I can only hope that someday you may come to love me as I love you.'
'I will try, Quinton,' she promised him. 'I truly will.'
The prince, having won several hundred pounds for a change this night, went off to bed before midnight. It was no secret that Lady Johnstone joined him shortly afterward to pay her debt. The following morning found the heir to Britain's throne in an excellent mood and ready for the hunt at the hour of six o'clock. Before leaving, the gentlemen consumed an early breakfast of eggs, bacon, oat stirabout, freshly baked breads, butter, and cheese, not to mention creamed cod and a platter of salmon.
The ladies, however, remained abed the entire morning, but for Allegra, who was downstairs by ten o'clock to go over the menus with the cook and consult with Crofts regarding the pantry, for she was still worried that there should not be enough food. The majordomo reassured his mistress that Perkins had brought back more than enough supplies the day before.
So the next few days slipped by with the gentlemen hunting in the morning and early afternoon, while the ladies enjoyed one another's company. In the evenings a sumptuous meal was served followed by cards until the prince deigned it was time for bed. The pesky boar was killed as were two fine deer and a number of waterfowl. Prinny was pleased, but then he began to grow bored with country life, and announced he would be returning to London the following day. The next morning the four young couples waved him and Mr. Brummell off, but only after Prinny had consumed a huge breakfast, and a large picnic hamper was stored in his coach.
'Delightful time,' he assured his host and hostess. 'Can't remember when I've had such fun.' He bowed to them all, and kissed the ladies' hands.
Lady Johnstone and Lady Perry were not there to bid His Highness a farewell. The prince had invited them both into his bed the evening before. They were frankly exhausted, for he was a tireless lover. He had casually invited them to London. They had promised to visit-
Th e autumn deepened. The trees were turning wonderful colors on the estate, and in the hills around them. The duke was pleased to learn that four of his mares were breeding, and would foal in the spring. Although he wanted to take Allegra away to some wonderfully romantic place, he was glad they would be here then. The French general, Napoleon, was making difficulties in Italy, and the duke didn't think they would be able to travel there in the spring after all. Still, he would take her to London this winter so she might enjoy her status as his wife. The country was a dull and quiet place in winter, and there could be no harm in spending a few weeks in town after the new year had begun.
The ball given by the new Duchess of Sedgwick in late autumn was to be a great success. Allegra had decided it would be a costume ball, and had invited all the families of note in the county. No invitation was refused, for there were many people curious to meet the new duchess, whose blood was hardly blue, but whose purse was overflowing. As Hunter's Lair was not a large house, many of the guests were staying with friends and relations who lived close by. The ball was to begin at ten o'clock in the evening. A buffet
