Duchess in Love Read Online Free PDF

subject.
    â€œWhat are you doing in these parts, Lord Perwinkle?” he asked.
    â€œOn my way to visit my aunt. She’s a funny old thing, and she always has a house party around now. Wants me to come and show myself as the heir, even though I don’t live up to her expectations.” He grinned faintly. “She’ll shriek herself blue in the face when she sees these clothes, unless my man discovers where I am. He was following with my luggage.”
    â€œWhat the devil’s the matter with your clothes?” Cam asked.
    Tuppy laughed. “Nothing that’s not wrong with yours.”
    Cam wore a shirt of white linen tucked into gray trousers. Neither article of clothing was in the first fashion, nor were they new; instead, they were comfortable and extremely clean.
    â€œWho’s your aunt?” Stephen asked.
    â€œLady Troubridge of East Cliff.”
    â€œWe’ll take you up with us tomorrow, if your gig isn’t repaired. That’s the house party where you’ll find your wife, Cam.”
    He grunted and didn’t look up from his dart.
    Tuppy’s mouth quirked. “We’ll both be seeing our wives, then.”
    At that, Cam did look up. “I thought you lost yours.”
    â€œDoesn’t mean I don’t see her now and again. Generally only at this house party. I can’t miss it since my aunt threatens to disinherit me. I spend most of my time fishing. My aunt has a decent trout stream.”
    â€œSo what’s the house party like, then?” Cam was still whittling away.
    â€œA nuisance. My aunt fancies herself something of a literary hostess. There’s a load of bad poets and dissolute actors wandering about. Gawky girls, being polished up for their debuts. And my wife’s set, of course. They’re usually there as well.”
    At Stephen’s raised eyebrow, he went on. “Young and married, bored to death with their own lives and their own skins, rich enough to flaunt convention and discontented enough to do it.”
    Cam looked up. “My duchess?”
    Tuppy’s smile was rueful. “Quite so, Your Grace. I believe she is one of my wife’s closest friends.”
    â€œDon’t call me that,” Cam said impatiently. “I can’t stand all that folderol. Call me Cam, if you please. Why didn’t you tell me yesterday that our wives were friends?”
    â€œI didn’t think it was particularly relevant,” he replied, surprised.
    â€œGina always was a devilish little thing. Remember when she followed us fishing, Stephen?” Cam turned to Tuppy.
    â€œWe wouldn’t take her with us because she was a girl, so she snuck after us and while we were fishing she stole our lunch.”
    Stephen gave a snort of laughter. “I’d forgotten that.”
    â€œWhat’d she do? Throw your food away?” Tuppy asked.
    â€œNo, that would be too simple. We’d told her that she couldn’t come with us because girls can’t handle worms without screaming. So she opened up every pasty and every tart and carefully packed worms inbetween the layers. Cozily lined the basket with worms as well.”
    â€œOnce we got over the shock,” Stephen chimed in, “it was fabulous. We had no lunch, but we had enough worms for a week’s worth of fishing.”
    Cam grinned. “We took her along the next day, of course.”
    â€œShe got more fish than either of us.”
    â€œNow I think about it,” Cam said thoughtfully, “it makes absolute sense that Gina would be in a wild set.”
    â€œAs far as I can tell, she and her friends don’t do anything but make scandals,” Tuppy said. “Sometimes I think my wife left me merely because it was considered tedious to live with one’s husband.”
    Stephen looked curious. “That is a remarkably frivolous reason to desert the marital bond,” he commented. Tuppy shrugged. “None of them have