Lord Morgan swallowed down half the whiskey in the glass. It roared into his stomach like molten lead, but then it spread its
warmth through his limbs, and he decided that he felt better. He looked at his daughter who sat across from him in a matching wing chair sipping a tiny glass of sherry.
'Running away,' she told him frankly. 'When I learned several weeks ago that Aunt Mama was having a child. I was quite astounded, and not just a little distressed. You had married me to Quinton Hunter on the basis that I was the richest girl in England. Now I was not to be, and worse, I could not seem to conceive a child. Sirena had had her little boy. Then I received word that Eunice and Caroline were expecting babies. I felt suddenly worthless. My fortune was apparently gone, and 1 could not even give my husband a child. I felt Quinton had been cheated by us all, Papa, and so I ran away to London.'
'Does Quinton feel he has been cheated, Allegra?' Lord Morgan asked.
'He says he does not. He says if you never gave us another penny we would still live more than comfortably for the rest of our days. We have hardly touched what we have received to date. Papa. But it just didn't seem reasonable to me that he wouldn't feel cozened. He had bartered his blue blood for a fortune that was no longer there. I am afraid I was very foolish, Papa.'
'What has made you change your mind, my dear?' Lord Morgan asked his daughter.
'Lady Bellingham. Dear Lady Bellingham. When I cried upon her shoulder she scolded me quite roundly for doubting Quinton, whom she has known his entire life. She said any fool could see that he loved me, Papa. And then she said that breeding women were given to vagaries and fancies. I was utterly shocked, but then…' Here Allegra stopped and blushed. 'Well, she sent her doctor around the following day, and Papa! She was right.
'You had best remain the night,' Lord Morgan said. 'I will send a footman over to Hunter's Lair to tell your husband that you are safe with us, Allegra.'
'Yes, Papa.' She sniveled happily.
Four days later the Duke of Sedgwick arrived at his father-in-law's home. He had been astounded when a footman had arrived at his home from Morgan Court. 'Come along, Hawkins,' he told his valet. 'It would appear that our wives are back from London sooner than later as I predicted.'
His wife ran to greet him as if they had not parted so oddly. 'Quinton! Ohh, Quinton, I have the most wonderful news,' she cried. Reaching him she flung her arms about him and kissed him soundly.
He had meant to be stern. A man could not allow his wife to behave as Allegra had behaved, but at the touch of her lips he melted. He kissed her back. 'I am a fool,' he said, looking down into her eyes. 'You have acted badly, and I should exercise my husbandly rights and punish you, Allegra.'
'Ohh, yes, my darling, you should,' she agreed.
'Did you even get as far as London?' he demanded, suspicious of her charming and adorable mood.
'Oh, I did. I went to a gambling house with Prinny and Mr. Brummell, and then the next night I went to Vauxhall with them. It was lovely, Quinton. I couldn't do those things as a debutante, and we didn't do them when we were all in London last winter. It was very exciting, my darling, but that is not the best thing of all.'
'How much did you lose, Allegra?' he demanded, his gray eves suddenly icy.
She laughed. 'Oh, Quinton, I am not such a turnip-head as that. I took a thousand pounds with me, and decided that when I had lost it I should come home. After all, I have no desire or passion for gambling. But the oddest thing happened. I could not lose. Whether it was at Hazard, or Whist, or E.O., I could not lose. I won over fourteen thousand pounds in a very short time. I think the proprietor of Casa di Fortuna was happy to see me leave,” she finished, giggling.
'And what did you do with the monies you won, Allegra?' he asked, but his tone and his manner had softened.
'I gave it to Charles Trent to invest. When our eldest son is of age he shall have half of it for himself, and the other half we shall use for our eldest daughter's season and marriage portion, she told him with a smile. 'I think the first son and the first daughter are always the most special. Oh,' she said suddenly. 'I have a new brother. He was born two days ago. They are calling him William Septimius James, and he is absolutely gorgeous! He looks just like Papa. My brother, James Lucian, never did you know. He favored our mother.'
She was like a fountain, the words pouring forth from between her pretty lips. He felt his anger and suspicion dissolving.
'My marriage portion, of course, will be considerably constrained,' she chattered on at him. 'After all, Willy is the heir now, and I am just his elder sister. We shall not have five hundred thou-sand pounds a year anymore, Quinton. But did you not tell me it didn't matter?'
She was testing him, he knew. 'It does not matter,' he told her firmly. 'The only thing I want of Lord Morgan is his daughter,' he said.
'You are very sweet, my darling,' she told him, 'but not very practical. You shall receive one hundred thousand pounds each year, and I shall inherit a quarter of Papa's estate when he dies, which, God willing, will not he for many years. You will, however, have to give me my pin money out of that, Quinton, for I shall receive no other stipend. I do not need it as I have my own monies, and 1 have you for my husband.' She smiled up at him proudly. 'Have I made us a good bargain, husband?'
He nodded, slowly, surprised at how efficiently she had managed everything once again. Then he shook his head. Why was he surprised? From the moment he had agreed to marry her, Allegra had managed everything, and she was far more adept at it than he ever was. She would probably manage him for the rest of their days, although he would never admit it to his friends. He took her hand in his, and together they walked into the house. 'Having won all those monies, are you still of a mind not to gamble?' he asked her.
'It was beginner's luck, or so the Italian contessa I met that night said. No, I do not believe I shall ever gamble again, sir,' Allegra told him sincerely.
'And you liked Vauxhall?' he queried.
'It was interesting, especially the Cascade, but there are far more beauties of a natural sort in the countryside. I suppose it is fine for city folk, Quinton. I did enjoy the concert in The Grove, but the supper. It was shockingly expensive! Why Mr. Brummell said that the carver at Vauxhall has been known to slice a whole ham so thin you could paper the entire gardens with it! And the cheese was dry, I fear, and the Arrack punch they served was quite nasty. I do not need to go back again,' Allegra told her husband.
'I am relieved to hear it as we shall have to scrimp to get by on one hundred thousand pounds a year,' he teased her, and then he lifted her up, and kissed her happily. 'I thought you might not come back to me, Allegra,' he told her.
'You thought no such thing, flatterer,' she laughed, but his bald-faced lie had sent a thrill through her right down to her toes.
He set her down on her feet again. 'I love you, Duchess.'
