The Duchess Read Free

Sirena get together all hell is apt to break loose!” He chuckled again. “You are going to have your hands full, Mama,” he said, waggling a finger at her.
    “Which is why I shall enjoy a quiet summer back here in the country,” his mother said with a smile.
    “If the girls bag themselves husbands, Mama, you shall have no peace at all this summer, for you shall be busy planning their weddings. I know that my uncleSeptimius depends upon you in such matters, and when Allegra marries, it will be quite the spectacle, I think.”
    “Miss Morgan has little hope of making a particularly distinguished match,” Charlotte interjected. “She may be rich, but her blood is barely blue, and her mama's disgraceful behavior can hardly recommend her, or be overlooked. Is there not a saying, like mother, like daughter?”
    “Allegra's mother, you may recall, Charlotte, was my youngest sister,” Lady Abbott said. “Her unfortunate conduct cannot reflect on my niece any more than it can reflect upon me, or any children you might finally bear. What twaddle you babble, my dear!”
    “Have you ever heard from Aunt Pandora since she ran away, Mama?” Augustus asked, curious.
    “Because you ask me, I shall tell you, Gussie, but it is never to be discussed with Allegra, or anyone else for that matter. Yes, I know where my sister is. She married her count, and they live outside of Rome. They are quite well liked, I am told.”
    “How could a divorced woman be remarried?” Charlotte asked.
    “Pandora's first marriage was not performed in the Roman Catholic faith, and therefore not recognized by that church. My sister was first baptized into the old faith, and then married to her count. Septimius knows, but Allegra has never been told.”
    “She can hardly remember her mama,” Augustus said. “She was only two when Aunt Pandora ran off.”
    “She doesn't remember her at all, but for the portrait of my sister which hangs at Morgan Court. Septimius has never taken it down because he has never stopped loving Pandora. My sister did not deserve such a good man.”
    “Why, madame,” Charlotte giggled inanely, “you sound as if you had a tendre for Lord Morgan.” She looked slyly at her mother-in-law, giggling again in a particularly irritating fashion.
    What had Augustus seen in this ridiculous girl, Lady Abbott thought. Her dear husband had been dead a year, and Lady Abbott was barely out of mourning when they had met. Charlotte's parents, the earl and his countess, had been delighted with their daughter's prize catch. They certainly should have been! They had rushed the young couple to the altar almost immediately, hosting a large wedding at St. George's on Hanover Square, followed by a wedding breakfast afterward at their rented town house. There had been no time to point out to her son that Charlotte was a featherbrained chit who could be both selfish and mean. Still, she seemed to make Augustus happy, even if she had not yet produced a child. Her son said that Charlotte was afraid of childbirth, having been treated to horror stories from her mother, a brainless creature who had easily managed to produce three offspring despite her alleged fears.
    “Will you need the coach to get up to London?” the marquess asked his mother, ignoring his wife's silly outburst as indeed he hoped his mama would. While he loved Charlotte, even he was ofttimes embarrassed by her tactlessness.
    Lady Abbott gave her son a small smile, and patted his hand reassuringly. “No, m'dear, I will not. Septimius's traveling coach will convey us all to London in style.”
    “I hear the fittings on his vehicle are real silver—not gilt,” Charlotte said.
    “I believe they are,” Lady Abbott replied. “Sirena andI are going to travel to Morgan Court in a few days, and from there up to London. I should appreciate the use of your carriage, Gussie, for that short journey.”
    “Of course, Mama,” the marquess replied dutifully.
    “But what if that is the