The Duchess

would be served at midnight when everyone would unmask; and then dancing and gambling would continue until the dawn when a breakfast would be presented to those remaining guests.

'I do not like costumes,' Quinton Hunter told his wife.

'You will make a marvelous Caesar,' Allegra said sweetly.

'And what are you to be? Caesar's wife?' he demanded.

'Cleopatra,' she replied. 'Mistresses are far more interesting than wives, or so I have been told,' she finished mischievously.

'Cleopatra? Cleopatra was a…'

'Queen,'Allegra finished for him.

'I will not have my wife parading about in scanty draperies,' the duke said firmly. 'Everyone in the damned county is coming, and there has never been any unseemly gossip about a Duchess of Sedgwick.'

'How unfortunate for you that your female antecedents have been so dull,' Allegra replied tersely. 'And do not tell me what I will or won't wear, sir. When did you become an arbiter of fashion?'

'Allegra!' he shouted. 'You are my wife, and you will obey me, damnit.'

'How dare you assume that I am so birdbrained as to flaunt myself before the county in, what was it you called it? Scanty draperies. My costume is rich and elegant, but there will be no one who can call it improper, unseemly, or unsuitable,' she shouted back at him. 'Ohh, you are the most irritating man!'

'And you are the most impossible woman!' he responded before sweeping her into his arms and kissing her soundly.

'You shall not get around me that easily,' Allegra cried, pounding on his chest with her two little fists.

'Ohh, but I shall,' he mocked her fury, and then he kissed her again until her knees were jelly, and she was furious at herself for the weakness of character she was exhibiting by yielding to him, but she just couldn't seem to help herself.

'Stop, stop,' she said desperately.

'Why?' he demanded.

'Because I cannot think clearly when you kiss me, damn you.'

'Gracious, you have now taken to swearing,' he teased, releasing her from his embrace. 'You are not at all the proper girl I married, madame. You have turned into a naughty wench who swears and is deliciously wanton in our bed. I find that I like it, as long as the image you present to the public is one of decorous and cool behavior as befits a Duchess of Sedgwick.'

'Damn the Duchess of Sedgwick,' Allegra muttered at him. What the hell was the matter with her these days? He was right. She did enjoy their time together in their bed. In fact she was enjoying it more each time they came together which was practically every night. His passion for her was great, and she was astounded at how well he could engage her lust. But it wasn't love, was it?

On the night of their ball he saw her costume for the very first time. It was exactly as she had said, rich and elegant. She wore a white linen gown, a long straight pleated skirt, and a simple sleeveless bodice with a high rounded neck over which she wore a magnificent collar of turquoise, gold, and black beads that lay flat upon her chest.

'My God,' he swore softly on seeing the necklace. 'They look most authentic.' He bent to examine it more closely.

'It is,' she said. 'One of Papa's clients bought it for me in Egypt several years ago. That is why I wanted to be Cleopatra, so 1 might wear it at long last. I never have before. Can you imagine my appearing in London last season in such a splendid necklace? Do you like the earbobs that go with it?' She shook her head slightly so they would jiggle.

The Duke of Sedgwick was amazed that she could be so casual wearing such a valuable antique. 'You are most beautiful, Allegra,' he finally said. He liked the full-length cloth of gold cape that she wore with her plain white gown. On her bare feet were golden sandals, and she wore an ornate black and gold wig, topped with a gold circlet from which sprang a golden snake with ruby eyes.

'And you are very handsome as a young Caesar,' she returned the compliment. 'I am, however, regretting my decision to let you show your knees, sir, for they are most tempting. Perhaps I should have had you outfitted in a long gown worn by the elderly senators of that ancient time. Try not to flaunt yourself too greatly, Quinton. No Duke of Sedgwick has ever done such a thing, and we certainly don't want you to start now.'

'I believe the law allows me to beat you, madame, provided the stick is no thicker than my thumb,' he growled at her.

'I'd rather you spank me, Quinton,' she murmured teasingly to him, kissing his earlobe. 'I believe I can be very naughty if you spank me, my lord.'

'I am going to forbid Eunice and Caroline in this house,' he told her. 'They are suggesting wicked notions to you,' he said, pretending to be very shocked, but he grinned at her. He damn well knew such proposals came from them, for Sirena and Ocky were too in love to entertain such vagaries of passion.

'We had best go down to dinner. Our houseguests will be waiting for us,' Allegra said sweetly, as if nothing at all had occurred between them. She smoothed her skirt.

Viscount Pickford, the Earl of Aston, and Lord Walworth along with their wives were the duke and duchess's houseguests. The earl was dressed as one of his Elizabethan ancestors, in black velvet with a starched white neckruff, and Eunice was a lady of the same period in a black and gold gown. She wore marvelous diamond jewelry. Lord Walworth was an Indian prince in scarlet silk and cloth of gold with a gold turban sporting a large black pearl and several ostrich feathers. But Caroline had chosen to dress herself as a medieval jester in a bright tunic costume of red, blue, and yellow. There were bells on her shoes, and her cap. Her legs were sheathed in red and yellow striped tights, and appeared most shapely. Viscount Pickford made them all laugh in his brown monk's costume, for he said he felt like a monk right now. Sirena blushed as she laughed, teasing him that one could not make a cake without breaking eggs and baking it in the oven. She was garbed in the full blue and silver brocade of a medieval lady, which nicely concealed her delicate condition.

They had barely finished dinner when the guests began arriving. The duke and the duchess hurried to the ballroom to greet them. Most had never been inside Hunter's Lair, and those few who had marveled at its transformation.

'What wonders have been accomplished,' a plump gentleman said.

'Money can buy anything,' sniffed his wife, her beady eyes darting about.

'Except good taste,' drawled another lady, 'but it would appear that the duchess has a great deal of that. Everything is exquisite.'

The musicians played a minuet as the Duke and Duchess of Sedgwick opened the ball. Familiar country dances followed. Those guests not interested in dancing found the drawing room set up for cards, and the play began in earnest.

Allegra kept a sharp eye out that the candles in the candelabras and sconces did not smoke, but she need not have for Crofts was carefully watching, too. He had been in service in this house for sixty years, but never had he seen a party such as the one being held tonight. He felt his chest swelling with pride. This was the way the Dukes of Sedgwick should have always entertained.

At midnight the masks came off, although everybody had already known who was beneath them. The dining room doors were opened, and the guests trooped into the beautiful room to