Bertrice Small - The Duchess

When the two older women left the garden Sirena spoke. "Mama says she is a power to be reckoned with in London society."

"She will be a good friend to us, and I suspect that we are fortunate in that," Allegra noted shrewdly.

"Do you think that she is right?" Sirena asked her cousin.

"About what in particular: 1" Allegra replied.

"That there is someone for everyone," Sirena answered. "What if we go through the entire season, and do not find husbands?"

"We will come back next year," Allegra said practically. "Not everyone, I am told, bags a husband their first time out."

"But we will be eighteen in December," Sirena said.

"And we are seventeen now," Allegra responded laughing. "Oh, sweet coz, I am not sure I am ready to be married yet. We are just out of the schoolroom. I should like to see something of life and the world before I am settled down into a dull married existence."

"But I want to be married!" Sirena said plaintively. "Mama won't move into the dower house until I am safely settled with a husband. I hate living at the hall now. Charlotte so obviously dislikes us. She begrudges Mama and me every mouthful we eat or drink."

"Marrying to escape your sister-in-law is a rather bad idea," Allegra said. "If we do not find husbands this season, sweet coz, then you shall spend the summer with me, and in the autumn I shall have Papa take us abroad for the winter months. We will return next season refreshed and most sophisticated from our travels. It will make us far more interesting than the schoolroom chits joining us next year. We shall be utterly fascinating to the gentlemen."

"Oh, Allegra, you are so sensible! I wish I could be more like you, but I really do want to find the man of my dreams, and have my own home."

"If that is what you wish," Allegra responded, "then it is what I want for you, too, Sirena. You will not have a difficult time in finding suitors. Your background is impeccable. Mine, however, is not. Papa's title is not very old, and my mother's behavior will surely lead the gossips to believe I am like her."

"But you are so rich!" Sirena said frankly. "Mama says all else will be forgotten regarding your background because of your papa's wealth."

"Oh, yes, my status as Papa's heiress. But I don't want a man marrying me just because I am my father's daughter," Allegra said.

"You cannot escape what is fact," Sirena replied.

"I suppose I cannot," was the thoughtful answer, "but I can certainly judge a man's sincerity, I hope, which may keep me from an unhappy misalliance. My mother married Papa for his wealth when she did not really love him. If she had loved him she could not have fallen in love with her count and run away with him, could she?"

"I suppose not," Sirena said softly. Her mother had always cautioned her to avoid any prolonged discussion of Allegra's mama. Pandora had, Lady Abbott told her daughter, been the youngest of their father's children. Beautiful, winning when she chose to be, and utterly selfish from her birth, Lady Abbott said. Her divorce from Lord Morgan had been all her fault, not his; and as she would not allow Allegra to suffer because of her mother's bad behavior, Sirena must avoid all conversation leading in that direction with anyone, including Allegra.

It was at that moment that Lady Abbott hurried back into the garden. "Oh, my dears, you have made such a good impression upon Clarice Bellingham! She will lead you both through the season, she has assured me. Her approval is a guarantee of your success!" the good lady burbled. Then she hugged them both. "And Madame Paul, herself, has arrived with her assistants to personally oversee your fittings. I have explained to her that you must each have a ball gown ready for the Bellingham ball, and your court dresses almost immediately. Come along, now!"

"Do you think Madame Paul will be as sparrowlike as Mademoiselle Francine?" Allegra whispered to her cousin as they hurried back indoors and up the main staircase of the house to their shared bedchamber suite.

"I don't know," Sirena whispered back. "She is probably more formidable, for Mademoiselle was very deferential when she spoke of her."

Madame Paul turned out to be a tall, gaunt woman with iron gray hair, black eyes, and a commanding nature. When the girls entered the room set aside for the fittings she immediately cried, "Off with your gowns, mademoiselles. Vite! Vite! The time, it is precious!"

Madame's two little assistants quickly stripped them down to their chemises. Madame, clucked and fussed with seemingly shapeless piles of material while Lady Abbott sat expectantly in a high-back tapestried chair.

"Mademoiselle Morgan," Madame said, beckoning Allegra with a bony finger, "Ici, s'il vous plaît. Bess! The cream gown!"

The garment, high waisted with a gently bouffant skirt, a gathered bodice, and short, tight sleeves with exquisite silver lace that hung just to above her elbow, was fitted on Allegra. The skirt's hemline came just off the ground, and had a delicate silver lace overskirt. The rounded neckline was lower than any gown she had ever worn, and seeing her young breasts swelling above the gown's fabric made Allegra blush. She struggled to pull the silk up.

Madame yanked it down with a severe look at her client. "It is the fashion, mademoiselle," she said in a stern voice.

"Even for such a young girl?" Lady Abbott ventured hesitantly.

"Madame," the modiste said, "you are offering a new product. Do you not wish it to be seen to its best advantage? Necklines are low this year. Your niece has a pretty bosom, unlike some my studio is dressing, who will need certain… um, aids to show their wares."

"The gown is indeed lovely," Lady Abbott said softly.

"Of course it is," Madame Paul responded. "No one takes the measurements like Francine. Come, mademoiselle, to the looking glass. I would have your opinion, for you are to wear the gown."

Allegra stared at herself in the mirror. How grown-up she looked. The faintly cream-colored silk with its silver lace overskirt was certainly the most beautiful gown she had ever possessed. She turned her head this way and that, admiring the image reflected back at her. The color of the gown brought out the translucence in her skin. Her mahogany hair looked richer, her eyes more violet. "Yes," she said. Nothing more, but Madame Paul understood perfectly.

"You will have a shawl, silver and cream, woven as if by spiders themselves, cream kid gloves that will come to the elbow, a very small reticule made from cloth of silver, and silver kid dancing slippers. You must wear only pearls with this gown, Mademoiselle Morgan. The impression you will give is that of elegance and utmost purity."

"Yes," Allegra answered the modiste, unable to take her eyes off her image. What would Rupert think if he could see her in this gown, she wondered. Then, smiling, she turned to her aunt, questioningly.

Lady Abbott nodded her approval.

The gown was removed, and set aside to be returned to madame's studio for the final finishing. Now it was Sirena's turn. The dress for her cousin was equally wonderful. In the same style, it was of palest sky blue silk brocade with a narrow sapphire blue velvet ribbon belting the waist. The lace on the sleeves of Sirena's garment was cream color, but there was no overskirt, making the dress quite different. The bottom three inches of the hem were pleated tightly. Sirena squealed with delight when she saw herself in the glass.

"A cream lace shawl and elbow length gloves, a reticule and slippers the color of your belt, and for you also, pearls, Lady Sirena. The effect is delicate and fragile as is your blond beauty. Your mama will have to fend the gentlemen off, m'lady."