Bertrice Small - The Duchess

"The king and queen would have come," Lady Bellingham said regretfully.

"They have sent us a beautiful gift," Allegra told her. "Four silver and gilt saltcellars. Would you like to see them? Our gifts have been laid out in the ballroom with their cards. Perkins!" Allegra signaled a footman. "Take Lady Bellingham to the ballroom so she may view the display set up there. You are all welcome to go."

"The rest of you may look another time," Lady Bellingham said. "Stay with Allegra. The gentlemen will be coming soon enough, but if he's in the mood for cards, Bellingham won't notice if I am here or not," she concluded with a chuckle. Then she let the young footman escort her from the little salon.

"She won't be back for an hour at least," Lady Caroline said. "She'll examine each gift, and its card, and have an opinion on it all when she finally returns to us."

"Your aunt terrifies me," Sirena said.

"Oh, you must not be afraid of her. She is really quite softhearted, although she would roast me for saying so," Lady Caroline answered.

"It was she who introduced me to Marcus," Lady Eunice said. "I shall never be able to repay her for that particular kindness."

At that moment the door to the drawing room opened, and the gentlemen came in, greeting their ladies as they did. Three tables of four were already set up for Whist, and two were quickly filled by the guests. The duke did not gamble, as everyone knew, but he did not mind his guests indulging themselves as long as the play did not get too deep. Lady Caroline and Lady Eunice were still more interested in seeing the wedding gifts. Allegra sent them along in the company of a footman.

"If you are comfortable," she said to her guests, "I beg to be excused for a moment. I must make certain that the preparations in the Great Hall are going along well." She curtsied, and hurried from the room. In the Great Hall the servants were busily hanging the green garlands entwined with white silk roses that would decorate the room for the festivities on the morrow. The high-board was set up as it had been in olden times. She looked about, and saw that the chairs had been placed in the Minstrel's Gallery for the musicians.

"The staff is working very hard, Miss Allegra," Mr. Crofts said to her as he came to stand by her side. "It will all look quite fine when 'tis done."

"It does look lovely, doesn't it, Crofts," Allegra said. "Please thank the staff. They have worked very hard. Those who serve at the table tomorrow will receive a silver shilling each so they may celebrate on their next day off. Do not tell them though until afterward."

"Very good, miss," the old butler said with a small smile. The duke was very fortunate in his choice of a wife. They were all very fortunate, he thought to himself.

Allegra returned to the salon. Lady Bellingham, Caroline, and Eunice had returned from the ballroom where the gifts were displayed. They were most admiring of the generosity offered to the duke and Allegra. They could, however, speak of nothing else but the two elephants with their ivory tusks and bejeweled coverings.

"I am going to build a glass conservatory off this salon," Allegra said. "It will be filled with plants, and I believe I can hide the elephants among the foliage. That way I do not insult Papa's nabob. I suppose he thought it was a wonderful gift, but gracious!"

Her companions laughed, and then Sirena said, "I believe the four of us are going to be very good friends. Allegra has said she will hold the duke's annual hunting parties, and so we shall see one another often."

"Do you hunt?" Lady Caroline asked.

"I do not," Allegra said. "I have already told Quinton that I will entertain and feed his parties, but I shall not careen about the countryside with my leg slung over a pommel. When I ride I wear breeches. Besides, I like deer and foxes."

"Thank heavens," Lady Caroline said. "Now I shall have the perfect excuse. I thought I was the only one who hated hunting."

"I don't like it either," Lady Eunice admitted with a delicate shudder.

"Nor I," said Sirena.

"My dearest." Lady Morgan had come up to put an arm about her stepdaughter's waist. "You are being married at nine o'clock tomorrow morning. I think it is time for you to retire."

"But should I leave my guests, Aunt Mama?" Allegra wondered.

"They will understand, and, my dearest, we must talk," Lady Morgan said seriously.

Sirena caught Allegra's eye, and she struggled not to laugh. Her friends were endeavoring not to giggle, their pretty mouths twitching. Newly married, they had all had to endure the talk on the night before their weddings. They bid their hostess good night, and watched as she was escorted from the drawing room by her stepmother.

Honor was waiting for her mistress with a hot tub already drawn, but Lady Morgan put up a restraining hand and dismissed the servant for a few moments while she spoke with Allegra.

"My dear," she began, "there are certain duties a wife must perform for her husband. I find them most pleasant, although some women claim not to find them so. Just remember that if it is done with kindness, and possibly love, all will be well."

"Aunt Mama," Allegra said quietly, "let me relieve you of what must surely be an embarrassing moment. I have spoken with my three friends to ascertain the nature of my wifely duties. They have kindly been most forthcoming, and enlightened me. You need go no further, I assure you. I understand what is expected of me, and the notion is not at all unpleasant. Indeed, I am very curious to experience these duties myself," Allegra concluded, her look mischievous.

Lady Morgan gave a gusty sigh of relief. "Bless you, Allegra, for being a sensible girl. I do not care how close a mother and her daughter are, it is a delicate and often awkward moment between them. No girl wants to consider her mother possesses such knowledge, and no mother wants to imagine her child under such circumstances." She laughed, and Allegra laughed with her. "I hardly gave poor Sirena any instructions at all, and would have felt most guilty did I not know how much she and Octavian loved each other. She kept looking at me with those wonderful big blue eyes of hers, and frankly I was most discomfited. I kept seeing her as that adorable little girl with the lovely long curls who played with you at Morgan Court."

Allegra walked over to the sideboard in her salon, and lifting the crystal stopper from a decanter poured two small glasses of sherry. Turning, she handed one of the glasses to her stepmother. "I salute you, madame. You are the best mother any girl could have had even if you are my aunt." She raised her little goblet and drank.

"Ohh, my dear," Lady Morgan said, "and I salute you. My foolish sister lost a wonderful child in you, but I gained another daughter to love and to cherish." She raised her goblet and drank.

Their glasses emptied, the two hugged each other, and then Lady Morgan kissed Allegra on both cheeks. "Good night, my darling girl. Sleep well. I shall see you in the morning." Then she turned, and hurried from the room, but not before Allegra had seen the tears of happiness welling up in her blue eyes.

Thank heavens that was over and done with, Allegra thought to herself. Heaven only knows what Aunt Mama would have told her if she had not weaseled the information out of Sirena. And she had taken any blame from Sirena's shoulders by claiming that all three of her friends had spoken with her on the subject. "Honor," she called as she began to loosen her gown. "She is gone."

Honor hurried from the dressing room. "You could have asked me anything, miss," she told her mistress.

"Anything?" Allegra raised a dark eyebrow.

"Girls in my position grow up faster, miss," the servant replied.

"Honor, you haven't!" Allegra wasn't certain she should be shocked by such a revelation.

"No, I most certainly haven't," Honor quickly answered. "I wouldn't be fit to work in a decent household if I was that kind of loose baggage. I just said we grow up faster when we're servants. We see things. We hear things. We talk among one another, and are far easier among ourselves than the gentry are. We are not bound up by all your manners and rules of polite society, Miss Allegra."

"Oh."

Honor took her mistress's lovely silk gown, and laid it aside. "Now let's get you bathed for you'll not have time in the morning," she said, and then she pinned Allegra's dark curls atop her head.

The bath, smelling of lilacs, was wonderful, and Allegra did not want to hurry, but she knew Honor would be awakening her early. She washed quickly. Her hair had been washed earlier in the day, and so she did not have to bother going to bed with a wet head and risking a chill. She exited her tub into a warmed towel held by her servant. "I shall be a married lady this time tomorrow," she said aloud.

"You're sure you are happy about it?" Honor asked boldly.

"Yes, I am content," Allegra replied softly. "He is a kind man, and he seems reasonable."

"Are you softening toward him then?" Honor queried. Although she was not a great deal older than her mistress, she had been with her since Allegra had left the nursery at age six. At twenty-four she felt eons older than her mistress. Their relationship allowed for such questions occasionally.

"I like him." Allegra took out her pins, and sitting at her dressing table began to brush her hair free of its tangles.

"Ummm," Honor observed, and said no more.

"And what does that mean?" Allegra demanded.

"You can sometimes be slow in coming to a decision, miss," was the answer.

"What decision can I not make?" Allegra demanded.

"Whether you love him or not."

"Love him? Honor, do not be ridiculous! I have told you before I do not love him."

"If you say so, miss," the servant replied. "Now let's get you into bed so you can get some sleep." She tucked the down comforter about her mistress. "Good night, Miss Allegra. It's the last night I'll say that. From tomorrow on it will be Your Grace." Then with a quick smile, Honor left Allegra for the night, closing the dressing room door behind her as she went.

Allegra stared at the canopy above her. Your Grace. Good Lord! The time had come for her to become the Duchess of Sedgwick. It was autumn. Spring and summer had long flown, and tomorrow she was to marry the duke. What an odd thing for Honor to have said. That she couldn't make up her mind if she loved Quinton Hunter, or not. Of course she didn't love him, and he most certainly didn't love her. And even if her feelings toward him were to change, she would certainly not embarrass him by gushing romantic twaddle.

This summer past they had become friends. They both loved Hunter's Lair. They both wanted a simple life with family and children. They were highly fortunate, they both knew, in having no financial worries. But that was all there was to it. Allegra's eyes felt heavy. There really was nothing more to their relationship. Why on earth had Honor said what she had said? Why does she persist so? Did she know something her mistress didn't? Allegra yawned, and her eyes closed. "He doesn't love me, and I don't love him," she said softly. And then she fell asleep.

Alegra's wedding day did not dawn brightly. The autumn rain fell in sheets outside the house, knocking against the windows. The hall, however, was warm and bright with the light of many candles and the twin fireplaces which blazed, crackling with sparks of golden light as the red flames danced in the downdraft from the wind outdoors. The vicar from St. Luke's, the village church, had come early, riding through the stormy weather to reach Hunter's Lair a full hour before the nine o'clock ceremony was scheduled. His wet clothing was taken from him to be dried while he changed into his cassock and white and gold chasuble. The clergyman was pleased to have been asked to marry the duke and his bride. His stipend for the service would be generous, he had not a doubt, and the duke could have sent for the local bishop instead. The vicar graciously accepted the goblet of wine offered him, and looked about.