The Duchess Read Online Free PDF

arrived and would like a fitting on the girls' gowns as soon as possible. They certainly cannot be seen in public in such old-fashioned country clothing.”
    “Yes, m'lady,” the butler replied with a bow.
    They easily settled into the house on Berkley Square, but late that same afternoon they had a visitor as they sat in the gardens enjoying the sunshine. Marker came with the card, and offered it to Lady Abbott.
    “Good gracious!” she exclaimed, paling. Then, “Of course I am at home to Lady Bellingham. Show her out here at once! Girls, your very best behavior, please! Clarice Bellingham is one of the arbiters of both fashion and society in London. If she approves of you, you will be given entry to everywhere that is important.”
    “And if she does not?” Allegra inquired.
    “Your season will be a total failure, my dear child,” Lady Bellingham said, coming into the garden. She was a tall, handsome woman dressed in the height of fashion. “They all listen to me, although frankly I do not know why, but there it is. How do you do, Olympia? It has been four years since you brought a daughter to London.” Lady Bellingham plunked her ample frame onto a marble bench, looking about her as she did so. “Septimius has the finest gardener in all of London. I don't know anyone else's garden that looks so beautiful.” She stopped speaking for a moment to catch her breath and gaze sharply at the two young girls in her view.
    “I-it is good to see you, Clarice,” Lady Abbott said, regaining her composure. “No, I haven't been up to London since Amanda made her bow. I am a countrywoman at heart, I fear. And then, too, London is not the same without my dear husband. Marker, tea, please.”
    “I suppose I should miss Bellingham if he went and died on me,” Lady Bellingham remarked dryly. “I shouldn't like to take a backseat to that featherbrain my son is married to, but fortunately my good husband seems to be in grand health, praise God! How are Augustus and his Charlotte? That marriage was executed quickly, and we were all quite certain …” She paused, and then continued, “Well, you know what everyone was thinking, Olympia. Yet here it is several years later, and she has not produced.”
    “We continue to hope, and pray,” Lady Abbott said weakly. She had forgotten what a whirlwind Clarice Bellingham could be.
    “Now introduce me to these two fetching young creatures. Who is the outspoken one, and who is the gentle one, as if I didn't already know,” she chuckled.
    “This is Miss Allegra Morgan, my niece.”
    Allegra curtsied politely, although her cheeks were still warm from having been overheard; and now to be called outspoken was most embarrassing.
    “Not Pandora's gel? Well, she's certainly a rare beauty. I suppose as her father's heiress we can expect she will be a great success,” Lady Bellingham pronounced quite candidly. “How d'do, Miss Morgan.”
    “How do you do, madame,” Allegra replied as another rush of heat suffused her face. Lady Bellingham had called her Pandora's girl. Did they all have such sharp memories? She supposed so. It was interesting that they could remember her mother when she could not.
    “And this is my youngest, Lady Sirena Abbott.”
    Sirena made her curtsy to Lady Bellingham, giving her a shy smile as she did so.
    “How d'do, my dear,” the formidable lady said. Then she turned to Lady Abbott. “She will certainly be an Incomparable, Olympia. She is the loveliest of your three gels,” and then seeing Sirena flush with pleasure, Lady Bellingham said, “Why, child, has no one ever told you that?”
    “No, madame,” Sirena replied.
    “Well, you are, and I have seen both Caroline and Amanda. The elder has shoulders a bit too broad, and the other's nose was a bit too retroussé, I fear. Still, they did well in the husband hunt, but you, I suspect, will do better.” She turned her attention back to Lady Abbott. “She has a respectable dowry? I know how selfish