The Dark Earl Read Free Page A

He opened the carriage door for the ladies. “I’m sitting on the box with Riley. Your crinolines leave no room for me.”
    “Just don’t let your new top hat blow away,” his mother warned.
    James shut the door. “I wish you had let me take the train. It lets you off at the main gate to the palace grounds.”
    “The railway was built to accommodate the masses. There will be such a crush of hoi polloi today, you wouldn’t be able to breathe,” the duchess declared with a shudder.
    “I’ll ride the train with you later in the week, James,” Harry offered. “I rather like the hoi polloi.”
    James climbed up beside their driver. He turned, winked at Harry, grinned at his mother, removed his hat, and held it in his lap for safekeeping.
    “You have a tender heart, Harry. I put it down to the time your father was the lord lieutenant of County Donegal and the ruinous rains came. One end of Ireland to the other became a vast wasteland of putrefying vegetation. I took you with me on my mercy visits to the poor, and you’ve championed the downtrodden ever since.”
    “I’m following in Uncle Johnny’s footsteps.” Lord John Russell, the Duchess of Abercorn’s half brother, had served a six-year term as England’s prime minister until two years ago.
    “Our family has decidedly bad timing. Johnny had been in the House of Commons thirty-three years before he became prime minister. Ireland hadn’t had a chance to recover from the tragic potato famine when he took office.”
    “But he was still able to do lots of good things,” Harry reminded her mother. “Not only did he abolish the Corn Laws, but he was able to limit the working hours for women.”
    “Oh, let’s not talk politics, Harry. The Season officially opens today and it’s supposed to be a celebration,” Trixy declared.
    “Every other year, the Season opens in May. That’s another delay we can blame on Her Gracious Majesty,” Harry said with disgust.
    “Speaking of celebrations, I don’t understand why I can’t make my debut with Harry and Trixy. Think of the expense it will save if we all have our Season together.”
    “Since when did you start caring about expenses, Jane?” her mother asked dryly. “A coming-out ball tells society that the young ladies making their debut are ready for marriage. Since Harriet and Beatrix are only a year apart, they are having their Season together.”
    “But I’m seventeen. I don’t want to be left out,” Jane pleaded.
    “You’re hardly out of the schoolroom. It would be scandalous of me to throw you onto the marriage market. Just be happy that I will allow you to attend their ball.”
    Harry poked Trixy in the ribs with her elbow. “D’you hear that? We are to be thrown on the marriage market. Sold to the highest bidder, I warrant.”
    “Sounds like an exciting adventure to me,” Trixy teased. “A guinea says I get more proposals than you.”
    “Marriage proposals, or the other kind?” Harry asked.
    “Don’t jest. You’ll get plenty of both,” their mother warned.
    “You shock my sensibilities. Society’s morals have changed since the decadent Regency era, when you came of age, Mother. Gentlemen today treat ladies as if they were saints. They want their females to be pure and innocent, and will do everything in their power to protect them from being tainted by the wicked world.” Harry gave a mock sigh. “Queen Victoria has taken all the fun out of everything.”
    “Rubbish! Gentlemen may pay lip service to the pure and innocent , but in reality nothing could be further from the truth. Beneath the facade of respectability, lust and licentiousness lurk. The male of the species will take advantage of any opportunity.”
    Harry winked at her sisters. “Is that what Father did?”
    Lady Lu smiled her secret smile. “None of you would have been born if he hadn’t. The last thing I wanted was a child.”
    Harry’s eyes widened in surprise. “How did he persuade you?”
    “He promised