The Duchess (20 page)

Sirena shook her head.

“You write her this day, my gel, or I shall,” Lady Bellingham said sternly. “Your mama has waited long enough for grandchildren.”

“My sisters have children,” Sirena protested.

“Why so they do, bless me, so they do!” Lady Bellingham said. “But it is your child that will best please Olympia, I am certain.”

Sirena and Ocky are to become parents,” Allegra told the duke as they rode home after the wedding.

“I know,” he said. “Are you happy for your cousin?”

“Yes,” Allegra said slowly, but without much conviction.

Reaching over he took her hand in his. Their eyes met, and the duke said, “What is it that is troubling you, my dear?”

“Sirena says she will be able to attend me at our wedding, but I do not think she will. She has a delicate constitution, Quinton. A trip to London may be too much for her in her condition.” Allegra sighed deeply. “We are more like sisters than cousins. I cannot endanger her, or her child.” She bit her lip, but even the sharp pain of the bite could not prevent the tears from slipping down her cheeks.

“If you could choose where we would be wed, my dear, where would it be?” he asked her.

“If I could choose?
But I cannot, Quinton. We must be married with all the pomp and dignity due your family's position. Lady Bellingham is right. It must be St.
George's in London. I could not ask anything less of you, my lord.”

“Your commitment to my history and my name is to be commended, Allegra, but you still have not answered my question. If you could choose where we would wed, where would it be?” He gave the little hand in his a tiny squeeze of encouragement. “Come, my dear,
where?”

“The Great Hall at Hunter's Lair,” she burst out.

“Indeed?”
He was very much surprised.

“Yes!” she told him. “I love Hunter's Lair, and the Great Hall is the perfect place for such an event. Especially now that it is clean. And I would have only our family and friends. And we would give everyone on the estate the day off, and set up a feast for them on the lawns. We should come from the hall where our feast was being held, and greet our tenants and workers. It would be wonderful!” Then her face fell. “But I know it cannot be. We must be married at St. George's, and have a proper wedding breakfast afterward with the king and the queen as our guests, and Prinny and Mr. Brummell.”

“No,” he replied. “We shall be wed in exactly the manner you have said, my dear.” Then he kissed her hand, and their eyes met again. He felt as if something had cracked within his chest, and yet he was fine.

“Ohh, Quinton,” she said softly, “could we really be married in such a fashion? Then Sirena could come, for her home is not so far away, is it? That would make me so very happy.” Her violet eyes were shining with pleasure.

“Would
it?” he answered her softly, and then he leaned forward, and kissed her lips gently. “I am coming to realize, Allegra,” he told her, “that even if you are strong-willed, opinionated, and far too outspoken, that
I am beginning to want to see you happy.” Then he added, “There is nothing in our most practical arrangement that precludes our being happy, is there, my dear?” His silver eyes twinkled at her.

“I do not believe so, my lord,” she replied, her voice a little breathless. Her heart was hammering rather quickly, and she could feel that her cheeks were flushed.

“Excellent,” he said. Then he tucked her hand deeper into his.

“Are you happy with me?” she ventured boldly. “Despite my faults? I do not think I can change, Quinton. I am not certain I want to change. Weak women are always taken advantage of to their detriment.”

“I do not believe you shall ever be taken advantage of, my dear Allegra,” he assured her with a chuckle. All his doubts, and dark mood of the past few days had vanished suddenly. He wondered, briefly, why he now felt he could conquer the world.

“How far is Pickford?” she asked him. “I should like to go and visit my cousin now that she is home from her wedding trip.”

“Just half an hour's drive away, my dear,” he told her.
Wedding trip!
Egad! How could he have forgotten to make plans for a wedding trip? “Tell me, Allegra,” he began. “Where do you think we should go after our wedding?”

“Must we go anywhere?” she asked.

“Perhaps not right away, if you do not want it, but next spring I should like to take you to Italy. We might go to Rome, or Venice, Allegra, if it would please you, my dear.”

“My mother lives in Italy. I should not like to meet her.”

“The contessa does not reside in Venice. We shall go to Venice, Allegra, and you shall not meet her. It is a
beautiful city, my dear, built on the edge of the sea, and the streets are not paved, but are water, and carriages are not used but rather charming little boats called gondolas ferry people from place to place.”

“How interesting,” she cried. “Yes. Let us go to Venice next spring. I would like that.”

Allegra, despite her little imperfections of character, was going to be an excellent Duchess of Sedgwick. She only needed his guidance, and he was after all fourteen years her senior. He would share his experience with her. Her desire to be married at Hunter's Lair had surprised him, but it had also pleased him very much.

He began to spend more time with her. They rode together in the morning, and then went about their own pursuits, sometimes meeting again at luncheon, and sometimes not until dinner. But he made every effort now to spend the evening with her. They walked in the gardens, and her ability at kissing improved daily. She had proficient skills with the pianoforte, and sang most prettily. One evening he sat next to her on the bench, turning the pages of her music. He found the back of her neck and the two unruly dark curls of her hair, damp with the heat of a summer's night, irresistible. His arms slipped about her narrow waist, and he kissed her nape.

Allegra ceased playing, turning her head to his. His mouth fused itself with hers in a hot kiss. Something had changed, she realized suddenly, as his hand began to caress her breasts. She froze. What was she to do? Was anything required of her but her compliance? Unable to help herself she began to tremble, and a small cry escaped her lips. She found herself slumping against his arm, unable to catch her breath for a moment.

“Damnit, I have forgotten how innocent you truly are, my dear,” he apologized to her.

Allegra swallowed hard. “Will this be part of our cohabitation?” she asked in all seriousness. She could, to her acute embarrassment, feel her nipples pushing against the silk fabric of her gown's tight bodice. Her heart was thumping wildly. She hadn't found his touch at all repellent, but rather exciting. And she was filled with questions. Did she get to touch him? And where?

“It is called
love play,
my dear,” he told her. “You are so charming, Allegra, I could not help myself. I think it is past time we came to know one another better, don't you? Our wedding is just over a month away now.”

“I found it exciting,” she said suddenly.

“What?”

“When you touched me,” she went on. “I found it exciting when you caressed my breasts, Quinton.”

“Did you?”
He was encouraged and a bit shocked by her candidness.

“Am I allowed to touch you?” she asked naively.

“Not yet,” he gulped, surprised.

“When? And where?”
she persisted.

“Eventually, and I shall instruct you,” he answered her, and he felt his member tingling. My God, the little witch was arousing him!

“I cannot help but be curious,” Allegra told him. “Once I said I had not yet considered the carnal side of our marriage, but you are right. Our wedding day is fast approaching, Quinton. I find my curiosity increasing. We have been so proper when we are together that it makes me giggle when I think what people must imagine has been between us this summer. Not that I care, mind you. My conscience is quite clear. Yours should certainly be as clear, unless, of course, you have some bit of fluff hidden away from me. I have certainly heard no gossip regarding such a matter.”

“Nor should you have if I indeed had a mistress, which I do not,” he responded stiffly. There was that appalling outspokenness again.

“Oh, dear! I have offended you again,” Allegra said.

Quinton Hunter laughed. He couldn't help it. Allegra could be so disingenuous, and at the damndest times. What was he going to do with her? For lack of any other answer he kissed her again. His arms wrapped themselves about her, his lips pressing firmly against her lips until the softness beneath his parted slightly. He ran his tongue along those sweet lips, causing her to gasp softly as her eyes flew open, and she stared at him astounded. “You taste of peaches,” he said.

“I … I had some at supper,” she responded. “Why did you do that? Lick my lips?”

“Because it gave me pleasure to do so, and it will give you pleasure also now that you are no longer surprised,” he explained. “There will come a time when we are in our marriage bed that I will want to taste every bit of you.
Even the most secret parts,”
he finished.

Heat suffused her body at his words. “Are you attempting to seduce me, Quinton?” she asked honestly.

“Do you want me to?” he countered. His silver eyes were half-closed.

“Perhaps. I am not certain yet if I am brave enough,” she answered him. His eyebrows were so black, and so thick.

“Even though we are at home,” he replied suddenly, breaking the spell that had been between them, “I do not want our servants gossiping should they find us kissing and alone in the drawing room, Allegra.”

Allegra looked up and whispered to him, “I want to be kissed and caressed more, my lord. I quite like it.”

“Then you shall be, my dear,” he promised her. “I
want you to be happy, Allegra.” He was surprised to realize that he meant it. “I want you to be happy,” she said. “I truly do!”

She sat in his lap the following evening in the gardens, sighing as his hands brushed over her small breasts. His kisses were intoxicating now. She wanted more, and more, and more.

He scolded her gently, “You are far too greedy.”

“But I adore kissing! And you really are an excellent kisser, Quinton. Rupert Tanner kissed me before I had to send him packing. His embrace was disgusting to me, while I cannot get enough of yours,” Allegra admitted quite freely to the duke. Then she changed the subject. “Do you find my gown too constricting? Wouldn't you like to touch my bared breasts?”

“Yes,” he groaned. Damn, but she was exciting him!

“Then come to my bedchamber after Honor has gone to her room,” Allegra suggested to him. “I want to know what it is like to lie with a man in one's bed. Will we be naked?”

His head was spinning with growing lust. She was a virgin. He knew she was a virgin. Virgins were either shrinking violets, or wildly curious, he had been told. Then he wondered if she had been this curious with Rupert Tanner. Hadn't she just admitted to kissing him?

“Did you let that pious psalm singer touch you?” he growled at her. “Did you invite him into your bed, Allegra?” Jesus! He sounded like a jealous man. Why would he be jealous? Only a man in love would be jealous. He wasn't in love with her.
He wasn't!

“Do not be absurd, Quinton,” she said in a tone that dragged him back into the reality of their situation. “Rupert kissed me once. He was trying to dissuade me from marrying you. As you are aware his sly old papa
wanted a match between us—but we were friends, not lovers.”

“Were friends?”

“He would not stop pleading his case,” Allegra said. “It was quite annoying. I sent him away telling him I should not like to see him again. His behavior was inexcusable, Quinton. I was already betrothed to you, and as I had no objections to the match, why should Rupert Tanner? Perhaps in a few years I shall forgive him, but certainly not now!”

“Of course,” he agreed. “He behaved like a perfect cad.”

“Poor Rupert,” Allegra continued. “It is not easy being a younger son, I fear, but he will find the right girl eventually.” Then her violet eyes met his silver ones. “Will you come to my bedchamber later?”

“You are quite shameless, Allegra,” he said softly.

“May I not be shameless with my husband?” she asked.

“We are not yet wed,
Miss Morgan,
” he said.

“If you would rather wait until we are I am content to do so,” Allegra told him sweetly. “I just thought if we came to know each other better in this manner, then we could consummate our marriage on our wedding night without much ado. It seemed a practical matter to me, but perhaps I am too bold, and do not understand, Quinton. You really must be more forthcoming with me,” she concluded.

“Go to your room, Allegra,” he ordered her. “When Honor is gone, I shall visit you. You must promise me, however, that you will abide by my decisions in matters that you do not yet understand. Have I your pledge?”

“Yes, Quinton,” she replied meekly.

“And wear your night garment,” he warned her.

“Yes, Quinton,” Allegra answered. Then she turned,
and hurried from the garden. At last she was to learn some of the delights of passion! Sirena had said they were quite wonderful. Of course she loved Ocky, Allegra thought, but even if I don't love Quinton, it should still be quite pleasant. A man's mistress doesn't love him, but she enjoys passion.

Honor was waiting for her mistress. She had Allegra's porcelain high-back tub filled with scented water. “You didn't stay long out in the moonlight with his lordship tonight,” she noted.

“There is a chill in the air,” Allegra excused herself. “It is August. Lord George's wedding is in just five more days.”

“And then comes your wedding,” Honor said. “I suppose it will be nice to see old London again.” She helped Allegra into her tub, and began putting her clothes away, separating the laundry first.

“The duke and I have decided not to be married in London,” Allegra told her servant. “I have already written to Papa about it. Sirena cannot travel to London now that she is breeding. I just can't be married without her by my side. The duke prefers being wed here at Hunter's Lair as do I. Just the family and our friends.”