A Duchess Enraged (8 page)

"Adam," she exclaimed extending her hands
joyfully. "How good of you to come so soon. I had no notion you would be
here so quickly." 

"Now why would you think that I would delay? Your
letter was most urgent," he answered. "Something about dire
circumstances, I believe."

Louisa smiled apologetically. "I do feel awkward. I
hope that I didn't take you from anything important. I would hate to interrupt
your day."

"Louisa, come to the point. What was so important
that you must take me from my breakfast and my planned drive?" 

Lady Manning achieved a blush. "It is just that I
have overspent my allowance, Adam, and the milliner is dunning me. I feel so
helpless and alone when this sort of thing happens. I'm used to having you by
my side to help me."

"Dash it, is that all?" asked Adam.
"Louisa, you know I told my secretary that he was to give you money for
any needs you might have. There was no need to fetch me away from my house for
something this simple."

"I'm sorry, Adam. I just was embarrassed to apply to
your secretary, and indeed, I feel so silly about this. And you didn't come to
me last night and I...I didn't know what to think." As she hung her pretty
head, Louisa shot him an appraising glance.

Adam gestured impatiently. "I told you my mother was
sick. That was the reason I did not come last night. I have a wife and mother
to tend to, Louisa. I cannot be here every minute."

"Now I have made you angry," said Louisa.
"Please, Adam, don't shout at me so. I won't apply to you for money in the
future if it annoys you."

"You can have all the money you want," said
Adam. "I will have my banker send you a draft. I just don't know why I
must be bothered with this. I used to think you were a woman who could take
some care of herself."

"Why Adam, you surprise me. I am no brash woman to
put herself forward. I shrink from the idea of drawing attention to
myself," said Louisa. "It is all very well to flirt about as your
wife does, but I--"

Gravesmere's lips tightened. "I do not wish to hear
about my wife from you, Louisa. I will handle her as I see fit."

Louisa sat back, realizing she had not imagined the
warmth between Adam and Allegra the previous evening and that it was time to
take another tack. Despite Adam's annoyance with her, she was now glad she had
made up that silly story to bring him to her house. She needed desperately to
keep him away from his wife. And he needed a reminder of what only she could
give him.

"I apologize, Adam," she said meekly. "I
can't help it if I'm occasionally jealous. She is very beautiful, and she has
your name. I know I have your heart, and yet I still worry."

The Duke sat down heavily on the edge of the chaise. He
was beginning to regret coming to see Louisa. It seemed to him now that a drive
in the park with Allegra would have been much more entertaining. "Now
Louisa, what have I done to make you worry?" he asked, a little
petulantly.

"Nothing at all, Adam. It's just my silliness. And
I'm afraid that you will become fond of her, when she obviously cares for
nothing but her clothing and her beaux."

"What do you know about what Allegra cares
for?" asked Adam testily.

Louisa chose her words carefully. She knew she was
treading on dangerous ground, but also knew she could not allow Adam to
continue in what appeared to be a growing affection for his wife. And she had
to protect herself from Tristan. If he truly meant to seduce Allegra, that part
of his plan must be encouraged, while she worked out a way to keep him from
revealing her secrets to Adam. Perhaps if she offered to be his mistress and
share Adam's fortune once she was Duchess of Gravesmere, he could be dissuaded.
Money was a powerful persuader, and she had confidence in her physical charms.
Nor was the thought of sharing her bed with Tristan again entirely unappealing;
the man was insatiable.

"Why nothing, Adam. It is just that all of Society
seems to be very aware of her attachment to Lord Gresham. The tale is that he
is seldom far from her, and that he cherishes her dearly. But you must forgive
me for telling you stories. I am sure the gossips forget themselves, and there
is nothing between the Duchess and Lord Gresham but the purest friendship. Why,
Society tells the silliest tales. To be sure, somehow the whole world found out
that you were here with me for a few days before you announced your arrival in
town to your mother, and that time they were not wrong, but we both know
countless times the stories have been the merest fabrication, don't we? And
while Gresham has never been known to have honorable intentions, there is no
reason he cannot change, is there?"

Adam glowered at her. She had struck a nerve. Of all
Allegra's admirers, Gresham was the one he sensed was dangerous. If society was
gossiping about them, perhaps there was some truth to the tale. "I have
heard nothing of this," he snapped.

"And why should you, my lord? Who would repeat tales
to a lady's husband? At any rate, you did not want to discuss this. I am sure
if you are convinced of your wife's virtue, I have no reason to doubt it."

Louisa watched him narrowly from under her lashes as a
series of emotions struggled across Adam's face. She gave him a few moments to
ponder what she had said, and then began again. "Adam, we should not be
wasting our time together in this way," She inched closer to him, easing
the wrapper off her shoulders and reaching into her bodice, offering one plump
breast to him. "Surely we have better things to do than discuss your
wife?"

Adam stood up hastily. "Louisa, I can't stay, as
much as I would like to. I'm afraid I have some matters to attend to. I will
have my banker send you a draft, and I will wait on you again soon." He
pressed a quick kiss to her lips and left the room.

Lady Manning glared after him with narrowed eyes. She
thought her shafts had struck home, but was distressed that her attractions had
not kept him longer at her house. "You will be back very soon, Adam,"
she murmured, her eyes hardening. "I'll see to that."

Adam returned to Gravesmere House to find Allegra gone,
attending to social calls. Emily had returned to her bed, at Allegra's worried
urgings, and was napping. He found that he had no wish to go driving, nor to
visit his club. He attempted to read, but his attention was not held by the
book he chose. He found the face of Lord Gresham rising before his eyes, and
cursed heartily. 

"I beg your pardon, Your Grace?" said a footman
who had entered the room.

"Nothing," snarled Adam. "What do you
want?"

"You asked me to tell you when Her Grace came
home," said the footman. "She has returned and gone to her
bedroom."

Adam closed his book with a snap. "Thank you,"
he said to the startled footman. "You may go. No, wait--ask Her Grace--no,
go, go."

In her room, Allegra was mournfully changing her dress.
Her calls had been highly enjoyable until one Mrs. Crowley, a rather vulgar
woman encountered at Lady Cushingham's, had mentioned the Duke of Gravesmere's
visit to Lady Manning's box the previous night.

"Such a handsome man, your husband," she had
told Allegra. "And charming, too. Why, he kissed Lady Manning's hand with
such grace. It was quite a sight to behold."

Allegra had dealt her a severe snub, but the remarks had
cut. She had thought perhaps Adam was beginning to enjoy her company, but when
he had left her to go to Half Moon Street that morning on receiving Louisa's
summons, she had been wounded. The knowledge that he had visited his mistress's
box the previous evening only added to the hurt. 

"Is the Duke home?" she asked her maid.

"Yes, my lady, he came in a little while ago,"
she said. "Do you wish to see him?"

Allegra hesitated. "Yes," she began, but then
her she felt a prick of pride. She had done nothing she should apologize for;
let him seek her out. "No, I think not, Merriwether. I will encounter him
soon enough."

On the Brink

Adam walked down the
hall towards his wife's boudoir, a smile on his lips. He had spent the
afternoon in deep thought, and had come to the conclusion that he and Allegra
had reached the beginnings of an understanding the previous evening. He felt he
had put too much stock in Louisa's words; surely Gresham meant no more to her
than any of the other pups who gathered at her heels. He still regretted, of
course, that Louisa could not be his wife, but perhaps sharing a house with
Allegra could be enjoyable.

She had a clever way
with words and made him laugh with ease, and he was starting to enjoy her
company. And she was very beautiful. More and more he found his mind wandering
to the dreamy look in her blue eyes, the gentle curve of her hip beneath her
skirt, the way her breasts swelled upward out of the neckline of her dress. He
felt a tightening in his groin and realized with a shock that he wanted
Allegra, and had since his first glimpse of her, an unknown woman riding a
stallion in the park. The realization startled him, and then he grinned. She
was his wife, after all. If he wanted her, he had only to take her.

He entered his wife's
boudoir without knocking, to find Allegra standing in the middle of a pool of
candlelight in her white lace underdress. Her hair was powdered and it rose
above her head in an elaborate beribboned pouf before curling over her ears to
fall in a cascade of ringlets to her shoulders. The room smelled of perfume and
powder and was littered with gloves, reticules and plumes. Her maid hovered
nearby, holding the elegant golden overdress that was to surmount the
petticoat. It made a lovely picture. Unfortunately, at least to Adam's eye, two
gallants hovered nearby as well.

"’Pon my
soul," said one delicately "you are too lovely, my lady. The eye is
positively dazzled by your brilliance."

The other gentleman
nodded in agreement. "You cast all others in the shade."

Adam stiffened when
he recognized the pleasant voice as Gresham's. Would he never be rid of the
man?

Allegra smiled on
both gentlemen charmingly. "If you think all is well now, you will be
positively in awe of me after I am dressed," she said. She beckoned to her
maid, who deftly tossed the dress over her mistress' head, careful not to touch
a single hair. She arranged it with quick hands and Allegra emerged, as bright
as candleglow herself. The men applauded.

Adam stepped further
into the room and made his presence known. Although he was perfectly aware that
it was the mode for gentlemen to watch a lady complete her toilette after the
underdress had been put on, and had been present at more than one dressing
himself, he was somehow unsettled by the sight of these two men in Allegra's
boudoir.

"Gravesmere!"
said Allegra with a smile. "How kind of you to come. And how
unfashionable. You see, gentlemen, how hedged about I am by my husband!"
She looked up at him with a laughing glance.

Adam glared down at
her. He could not help the feeling of disappointment that rose in his breast.
Gone was the woman who had been so concerned about his mother on the previous
evening. She seemed to have been replaced by the Toast of London of the previous
weeks. She was still beautiful, and still desirable, but her gentle side was
gone.

"I am sorry if
my presence offends you," he said stiffly.

"On the
contrary," said Allegra, giving him a curious glance. Adam seemed
different tonight. He was no longer relaxed and charming, but distant and cold
instead. How dare he judge her when he had visited Lady Manning's box at the
opera only the night before? "You provide an appropriate note of sobriety
to our gathering. Please come in."

Adam came into the
room and seated himself gingerly on a spindle-legged chair.

"You know
Viscount Havermoor, I believe," said Allegra, indicating the exquisite
gallant who was now circling her, conducting a minute inspection with his
quizzing glass, "And of course you have met Lord Gresham."

Gresham bowed
graciously to Adam. A mocking smile lit his face, and there was a lazily amused
expression in his eyes. Adam stiffened. Of all the people he might find in his
wife's room, Gresham was the one he wished to see the least.

"Your Grace,"
said Tristan. "Allow me to compliment you upon your wife's exquisite
beauty."

"It isn't my
doing," replied Adam grimly. "If I had a wife who was less of a
flower, there would be fewer bees buzzing about the house."

Tristan raised one
eyebrow, but then apparently decided to interpret the remark as a jest rather
than an insult. He laughed. "It's true. Great beauty can be a burden as
well as a gift."

"My wife appears
to be able to shoulder that burden," said Adam coldly.

Lord Gresham bowed
and turned towards Allegra, who was listening to them with an alarmed
expression.

"Your husband
finds you too beautiful, madam," he said cheerfully. "But I believe
that there is no such thing as too much beauty. I feel I am capable of basking
in your glow eternally."

"My lord, you
shall make my head turn," said Allegra. "And that would not be
attractive. Come gentlemen, you are here to provide me with advice. What jewels
shall I wear? Do you prefer the diamonds or the emeralds?"

Adam watched as the
jeweled sets which had been in his family for generations were produced. The
last time he had seen them, four years before, they had graced his mother. His
lips tightened as he thought of his mother's devotion to his father. The jewels
were, of course, the property of the current Duchess, but it seemed to him that
Allegra did not deserve to wear the stones that generations of loving and loyal
wives had worn.

Viscount Havermoor
argued most volubly in favor of the diamonds, while Lord Gresham felt that the
emeralds would be more striking against the gold of Allegra's dress. As they
discussed the point, Adam watched silently. Eventually Allegra turned to him
with a laugh.

"Adam, I think
perhaps you must break this tie. Which do you prefer, the green or the
white?"

"It can hardly
make any difference," said the Duke. "If you went to this ball
wearing glass chips you would doubtless still be admired." The words were
flattering, but his tone was not. He stood, obviously angry, and bowed. "I
will await you downstairs, ma'am. When you and your company are prepared we
shall depart."

Allegra flushed under
her powder and turned away with a brittle laugh. The Duke walked grimly from
the room and closed the door.

"It seems my
husband grows impatient," said Allegra. "I fear he may have to wait
some time; we are hardly begun here."

Viscount Havermoor
looked aghast. "How churlish of him. If I did not know it was dreadfully
unfashionable I would think he was jealous!"

"I doubt it is
jealousy," said Allegra, a small catch in her voice. "Adam and I do
not have a romantic marriage."

"And a good
thing, too," the Viscount assured her. "There is nothing more
uncomfortable than love in a marriage. Perhaps Gravesmere has eaten something
that does not agree with him."

"If you will
forgive me, I am weary of the subject." Allegra turned away to hide her
burning cheeks.

Tristan gave her a
shrewd look. So the girl cared for her husband, did she? That would make his
task harder, but not impossible. She was clearly jealous and headstrong, a
volatile combination. "We will attempt to make up for your husband's
slights," he said in a gentle tone. "There are many who find you not
only beautiful and witty, but kind and generous as well, my lady."

She looked at him
gratefully. "Thank you, my lord. And now, gentlemen, we must proceed. We
have still to settle the issue of the jewelry, not to mention selecting an
appropriate patch."

“Well that must be
the highwayman, of course,” replied Gresham with a bit of a smirk.

Allegra barely
noticed this sale, and the debate proceeded. But she continued to seem
distracted, and when she emerged from her boudoir with her admirers in
attendance she was not entirely sure how she was dressed. As she came down the
stairs Adam was waiting in the hallway. He looked up as she descended the
stairs, and even through the haze of his anger he perceived her beauty.
Agitation had brought a delicate flush to her cheeks and her blue eyes sparkled
in the candlelight. Emeralds glowed from her golden gown, and her skin was as
fair as the lace foaming about her shoulders, and once again he felt a surge of
lust.

"My lady,"
he said coldly. "Your chair awaits."

Allegra lifted her
chin and walked past him and out the door. If he could treat her as a
troublesome child, then he would feel the sting of her disapproval as well. The
Viscount and Lord Gresham followed, exchanging glances, Havermoor’s amused and
Gresham's satisfied. All was clearly not well in Gravesmere House.

Their return home
that evening was not propitious either. The Dowager Duchess had been at the
ball, but had left early, tired of watching Allegra flirt desperately while her
son ostentatiously ignored his wife. The newlyweds themselves returned home
very late, their anger an almost physical presence between them. They were greeted
at the door by a footman, who told them that the Dowager Duchess demanded their
immediate presence in her sitting room.

"See what you
have done!" exclaimed Adam as they walked up the stairs. "Now your
behavior is depriving my mother of her sleep! She isn't a young woman, and you
are undermining her health."

"I'm doing
nothing of the sort!" retorted Allegra. "Your mother slept quite well
until your return, with your sulks and fits."

They entered the room
cloaked once more in stony silence and stood facing the Dowager with sullen
faces. She took one look at them and sighed heavily.

"I see you're
still quarreling," she said. "You're like two mutinous
children."

"I expect more
from my wife than--" said Adam

"If he cannot
understand that I have the right to do as I choose--" burst out Allegra at
the same moment. They glared at each other and lapsed into silence.

"Obviously you
are unable to settle your differences. I had hopes of you coming to care for
each other quickly, but I see that this marriage shall be a struggle. But
perhaps I'm foolish to expect you to attend to one another when all the
distractions of London are at your feet. I wish you both to cancel your
engagements for the week and we will go to Gravesmere tomorrow. Let us see if
you like one another better in the country than in the City." Emily nodded
severely.

"Cancel my
engagements!" cried Allegra. "I can't do that. The Avon's rout is
this week, and I am engaged to attend the Opera with the Overtons!"

Adam's mind flew to
Louisa. Not only would she not take kindly to a long separation, but he
couldn't imagine an entire week of Allegra's frivolity without being able to
escape to his mistress's consoling arms.

"Mother, it is
the height of the Season. People would be amazed if we suddenly fled
town," he protested.

"I don't care
what Society thinks. I will not have my son and his wife at loggerheads.
Tonight I heard the most foolish gossip, Adam, about your jealousy towards
Allegra's beaux. I do not know what gave rise to this, but I will not have you
talked about in this low manner. You two will come to an accommodation. I must
confess, I had hoped you might love one another, but if you cannot love, at
least you can be polite. We go to Gravesmere in the morning."

"Come
morning!" exclaimed Adam. It was already long past midnight, and he could
not imagine breaking this news to Louisa in a note.

"Come
morning," affirmed the Dowager. "I have already had your maid, Allegra,
and your valet, Adam, pack your belongings. The carriage is ordered. We leave
at ten-o-clock."

Allegra looked at
Emily's stern face and then Adam's rigid spine. She realized that there was no
way out of this without being rude to her mother-in-law, of whom she was very
fond. It seemed that the best route would be to succumb with good grace. She
doubted a week away from the city would improve her relationship with her
husband, but she allowed that she could use the rest. And it would separate
Adam from that hussy he kept. She almost had to smile when she thought of his
discomfiture.

"If that is what
you wish, Mama dear," she said demurely, "I shall go. But," she
added with a flash at Adam, "don't expect miracles. I doubt Adam in the
country will be much more fun than Adam in London."

Adam gave her an
angry look. She was not only making him look bad by agreeing to this farcical
trip to the country, but she was insulting him as well. But he knew there was
no way out of the journey now. He would have to inform Louisa with a note, her
reaction to his absence and the means of notification was unlikely to be
pleasant.

Suppressing a
grimace, he stepped forward and kissed Emily's hand. "As you wish, Mother.
I will endeavor to make our stay at Gravesmere a pleasant one." He turned
and left the room without a glance at Allegra. She kissed her mother-in-law’s
cheek and followed a few paces behind him hearing the door to his room close
slightly before she reached hers.