Bertrice Small - The Duchess

"Best to hope Jeremy Carstairs remains a gentleman," Allegra laughed. "You make yourself sound so worldly-wise, Sirena, but you were as big a virgin then as I am now."

Sirena nodded. "Of course I was," she agreed with a smile. "I love Ocky so much that I could not deceive him that way, and I didn't."

"What is it like to be in love?" Allegra asked her cousin.

"Are you in love with the duke?" came the question.

"I don't know," Allegra said. "I like him except when he becomes pompous; and I actually find that I miss him now that I am back at Morgan's Court. I have never thought I should fall in love, whatever that may be, but I should like to know what it is like. It would seem to me that the emotion called love isn't very practicable, or particularly sensible. I shall not expound my views as you have heard them often enough, but I am still curious."

"Love," Sirena said slowly, "is caring for someone even more than you care for yourself. It is wanting that person happy. It is the ability to give of yourself totally without losing yourself. I don't know if that makes any sense to you, Allegra, but it is the best explanation I can give you."

"I understand, or I think I do, and yet I don't," came the reply. "Perhaps it is better that I remain in ignorance. The duke feels as I do, and does not love me, nor will he ever love me."

"And yet you will marry him," Sirena said sadly.

"He is handsome and charming," Allegra said. "He respects me, and will make an excellent mate, Sirena."

"And you can give yourself body and soul to him without love?" It seemed so cold, and yet she well knew that most marriages among those of their class were made for reasons other than love. She loved Allegra. She wanted her to have the happiness that she now possessed.

"Oh, Sirena," Allegra comforted her cousin. "I am content with everything. Quinton is kind. Hunter's Lair is beautiful. What more is there to life than that?"

"I suppose you are right, Allegra, even if it troubles me," Sirena said, and she gave her cousin a little smile.

"You were ever the romantic, Sirena dearest," Allegra teased.

"And you were ever the sensible one," Sirena replied.

"Madame Paul will be here tomorrow," Allegra said. "Your gown is to be pale blue to match your eyes, and my wedding dress will be white and silver lace. I can hardly wait to see it!"

"You always loved new clothes," Sirena laughed. "I vow you will leave instructions about what to bury yourself in one day."

"I certainly will!" Allegra agreed, and then she laughed, too. "Can you imagine us as old ladies, Sirena? You will still be the romantic, I suspect, and I shall be quite crotchety, waving my cane about."

"What cane?"

"The one with the silver dragon's head I intend having when I am a dowager. It will be polished black ebony with its silver dragon. Perhaps I shall have a whole dragon, and not just its head. Its silver body and tail could curl about my walking stick. I shall wave it at everyone who displeases me."

Sirena laughed harder. "Ohh, Allegra," she said, "you can be so amusing when you choose to be."

"I am quite serious, cousin," came the answer.

"You wouldn't wave that cane at the duke, would you?" she asked, her blue eyes twinkling mischievously.

"Particularly at the duke," Allegra said. "He can be very aggravating at times. But on the whole he has been quite nice to me."

"All husbands can be difficult on occasion," Sirena said.

"You speak with such authority," Allegra teased her.

"Well I have been married almost four months," Sirena replied.

It was as if they had never been apart. The next few weeks sped by. Madame Paul arrived with her assistant, Mademoiselle Francine, to do the final fittings for the wedding. She clucked with disapproval when she found Allegra had lost almost a full inch in her waistline. She purred with pleasure that Sirena, despite her delicate condition, fit perfectly into her gown.

"Another month, however, chérie," she told Viscountess Pickford, "and it would be another story, I fear."

Three days before the wedding Viscount Pickford arrived with the duke to escort the bride and her family back to Hunter's Lair. Allegra found her heart beating a bit faster at just the sight of Quinton Hunter. Still, they greeted each other with restraint; she curtseying, he bowing and kissing her hand.

"What is the matter with them?" Sirena whispered to her husband.

Octavian Baird smiled mysteriously. "Can't you tell?" he asked her, and when Sirena shook her blond head, puzzled, he continued. "They are in love with each other, but neither will tell the other, or admit to it, my adorable angel."

"Why on earth not?" Sirena squealed, excited.

"Because each fears the other will reject such overtures. Neither has any reason to believe in love, given their family history, but love, as you know, my darling, makes no allowances for such things. Quinton is horrified to find that he actually cares for Allegra. He feels it would be off-putting to tell her of his emotions toward her. He believes she will never reciprocate such feelings, and if there is one thing Quinton Hunter is, it is overproud. To be spurned or dismissed by the girl he loves would be an insult he could never forgive. So he will remain silent, and so, my darling girl, must you."

Sirena nodded. "Yes, I will," she told her husband. "I believe that Allegra likes the duke very much, but I do not think she is in love with him despite what you think. Not yet."

"Do you actually believe she will admit to loving him one day?" her husband asked hopefully. "God, how happy Quint would be if that occurred! He cannot believe what has happened to him, or the delicious turmoil this duchess-to-be of his has caused with his heart."

"She seems to get on with him, and as I have said, she likes him. They have become friends, and friendship is the best basis for a lasting love, Ocky," Sirena said wisely. "Ohh, how I would like it if my cousin really fell in love, and was as happy with her duke as I am with you!" The knowledge that the duke loved her cousin reassured Sirena. Now she was not as fearful of the marriage as she previously had been.

Hunter's Lair welcomed back its mistress. To Allegra's delight everything she had ordered done in her absence had been completed. Her father was well pleased with the renovations to the house, and her stepmother admired the decor, pronouncing it "exquisite." Sirena was delighted with its homey quality.

"I was so afraid it would be one of those huge grand houses that can never quite be a home," she said, "but this is wonderful!"

Lord Morgan took the duke aside. "Mr. Trent has seen to it that a deposit has been made to your account, sir. He will make those deposits quarterly, both for you, and for Allegra."

"Thank you, sir," the duke replied.

"And the architect and workmen have been settled with so you need have no worry on that account," Lord Morgan continued.

"You have been more than generous, my lord," the duke said.

Lord Morgan smiled dryly. "Treat her well, Quinton. I am not a man to marry off his daughter and then be done with her. She is my flesh, and I love her."

"Allegra is a delight, sir," the duke answered. Then he smiled a wry smile. "As well as being willful and stubborn, but I believe that we suit despite it all."

"Yes," Lord Morgan said, "I think this bargain that we have made will turn out quite well for all of us. Give me grandchildren as soon as you can, Quinton. Nothing settles a woman quite like a family of her own to care for and worry over."

The guests began arriving the next day. Lady Bellingham, her good husband in tow, came first. Her jaw fell as she entered the house. "God bless me, I have never seen Hunter's Lair look so fine!" she pronounced. "Have my bags taken up. I must have a tour this moment!" Lord and Lady Walworth came shortly afterward, followed by the Earl and Countess of Aston. The Marquess of Rowley came, but without his wife. Lady Charlotte would not travel in her delicate condition, but Gussie refused to miss his favorite cousin's wedding. Allegra had also asked her father's secretary, Charles Trent, to be their guest.