"Yes," Lord Morgan said, "I think this bargain that we have made will turn out quite well for all of us. Give me grandchildren as soon as you can, Quinton. Nothing settles a woman quite like a family of her own to care for and worry over."


***

The guests began arriving the next day. Lady Bellingham, her good husband in tow, came first. Her jaw fell as she entered the house. "God bless me, I have never seen Hunter's Lair look so fine!" she pronounced. "Have my bags taken up. I must have a tour this moment!" Lord and Lady Walworth came shortly afterward, followed by the Earl and Countess of Aston. The Marquess of Rowley came, but without his wife. Lady Charlotte would not travel in her delicate condition, but Gussie refused to miss his favorite cousin's wedding. Allegra had also asked her father's secretary, Charles Trent, to be their guest.

That evening Allegra received her first inkling of what it was going to be like being the Duchess of Sedgwick as she presided over her twelve guests at the dinner table. It was the first time the new dining room had been used. Its great black marble fireplace blazed with enormous logs that had been set across the silver andirons. The table was set with pristine Irish linen. The silver candelabra glittered with the reflected light of the candles. To Allegra's delight the chandeliers from Waterford had arrived earlier than expected. Two of them now hung over the table, the crystal sparkling with their many candles. Blue and white bowls of flowers from the greenhouse decorated the table. The servants were resplendent in their hunter's green with silver braid livery. Footmen stood behind each guest's chair as the lavish meal was served. Still in all it was a happy gathering of friends, and not quite as formal as it would have been in London.

Afterward when the dessert had been cleared away, the ladies retired to the drawing room next to the ballroom to gossip while the gentlemen were left to their port. The gentlemen would join them shortly, and they would play cards among themselves.

"I am so glad you decided to have your wedding here rather than return to London," Lady Walworth said.

"They should have been wed with pomp and circumstance," her aunt, Lady Bellingham, replied.

"Now, dearest Lady B.," Allegra responded, "Quinton and I love Hunter's Lair. We can think of no more perfect place in which to be married than the Great Hall of this house. Besides, if we had returned to London, Sirena couldn't have been my matron of honor. The trip would have been too much for her. Here she is but an easy drive from her home. All our guests are."

"The king and queen would have come," Lady Bellingham said regretfully.

"They have sent us a beautiful gift," Allegra told her. "Four silver and gilt saltcellars. Would you like to see them? Our gifts have been laid out in the ballroom with their cards. Perkins!" Allegra signaled a footman. "Take Lady Bellingham to the ballroom so she may view the display set up there. You are all welcome to go."

"The rest of you may look another time," Lady Bellingham said. "Stay with Allegra. The gentlemen will be coming soon enough, but if he's in the mood for cards, Bellingham won't notice if I am here or not," she concluded with a chuckle. Then she let the young footman escort her from the little salon.

"She won't be back for an hour at least," Lady Caroline said. "She'll examine each gift, and its card, and have an opinion on it all when she finally returns to us."

"Your aunt terrifies me," Sirena said.

"Oh, you must not be afraid of her. She is really quite softhearted, although she would roast me for saying so," Lady Caroline answered.

"It was she who introduced me to Marcus," Lady Eunice said. "I shall never be able to repay her for that particular kindness."

At that moment the door to the drawing room opened, and the gentlemen came in, greeting their ladies as they did. Three tables of four were already set up for Whist, and two were quickly filled by the guests. The duke did not gamble, as everyone knew, but he did not mind his guests indulging themselves as long as the play did not get too deep. Lady Caroline and Lady Eunice were still more interested in seeing the wedding gifts. Allegra sent them along in the company of a footman.

"If you are comfortable," she said to her guests, "I beg to be excused for a moment. I must make certain that the preparations in the Great Hall are going along well." She curtsied, and hurried from the room. In the Great Hall the servants were busily hanging the green garlands entwined with white silk roses that would decorate the room for the festivities on the morrow. The high-board was set up as it had been in olden times. She looked about, and saw that the chairs had been placed in the Minstrel's Gallery for the musicians.

"The staff is working very hard, Miss Allegra," Mr. Crofts said to her as he came to stand by her side. "It will all look quite fine when 'tis done."

"It does look lovely, doesn't it, Crofts," Allegra said. "Please thank the staff. They have worked very hard. Those who serve at the table tomorrow will receive a silver shilling each so they may celebrate on their next day off. Do not tell them though until afterward."

"Very good, miss," the old butler said with a small smile. The duke was very fortunate in his choice of a wife. They were all very fortunate, he thought to himself.

Allegra returned to the salon. Lady Bellingham, Caroline, and Eunice had returned from the ballroom where the gifts were displayed. They were most admiring of the generosity offered to the duke and Allegra. They could, however, speak of nothing else but the two elephants with their ivory tusks and bejeweled coverings.

"I am going to build a glass conservatory off this salon," Allegra said. "It will be filled with plants, and I believe I can hide the elephants among the foliage. That way I do not insult Papa's nabob. I suppose he thought it was a wonderful gift, but gracious!"

Her companions laughed, and then Sirena said, "I believe the four of us are going to be very good friends. Allegra has said she will hold the duke's annual hunting parties, and so we shall see one another often."

"Do you hunt?" Lady Caroline asked.

"I do not," Allegra said. "I have already told Quinton that I will entertain and feed his parties, but I shall not careen about the countryside with my leg slung over a pommel. When I ride I wear breeches. Besides, I like deer and foxes."

"Thank heavens," Lady Caroline said. "Now I shall have the perfect excuse. I thought I was the only one who hated hunting."

"I don't like it either," Lady Eunice admitted with a delicate shudder.

"Nor I," said Sirena.

"My dearest." Lady Morgan had come up to put an arm about her stepdaughter's waist. "You are being married at nine o'clock tomorrow morning. I think it is time for you to retire."

"But should I leave my guests, Aunt Mama?" Allegra wondered.

"They will understand, and, my dearest, we must talk," Lady Morgan said seriously.

Sirena caught Allegra's eye, and she struggled not to laugh. Her friends were endeavoring not to giggle, their pretty mouths twitching. Newly married, they had all had to endure the talk on the night before their weddings. They bid their hostess good night, and watched as she was escorted from the drawing room by her stepmother.

Honor was waiting for her mistress with a hot tub already drawn, but Lady Morgan put up a restraining hand and dismissed the servant for a few moments while she spoke with Allegra.

"My dear," she began, "there are certain duties a wife must perform for her husband. I find them most pleasant, although some women claim not to find them so. Just remember that if it is done with kindness, and possibly love, all will be well."

"Aunt Mama," Allegra said quietly, "let me relieve you of what must surely be an embarrassing moment. I have spoken with my three friends to ascertain the nature of my wifely duties. They have kindly been most forthcoming, and enlightened me. You need go no further, I assure you. I understand what is expected of me, and the notion is not at all unpleasant. Indeed, I am very curious to experience these duties myself," Allegra concluded, her look mischievous.

Lady Morgan gave a gusty sigh of relief. "Bless you, Allegra, for being a sensible girl. I do not care how close a mother and her daughter are, it is a delicate and often awkward moment between them. No girl wants to consider her mother possesses such knowledge, and no mother wants to imagine her child under such circumstances." She laughed, and Allegra laughed with her. "I hardly gave poor Sirena any instructions at all, and would have felt most guilty did I not know how much she and Octavian loved each other. She kept looking at me with those wonderful big blue eyes of hers, and frankly I was most discomfited. I kept seeing her as that adorable little girl with the lovely long curls who played with you at Morgan Court."

Allegra walked over to the sideboard in her salon, and lifting the crystal stopper from a decanter poured two small glasses of sherry. Turning, she handed one of the glasses to her stepmother. "I salute you, madame. You are the best mother any girl could have had even if you are my aunt." She raised her little goblet and drank.

"Ohh, my dear," Lady Morgan said, "and I salute you. My foolish sister lost a wonderful child in you, but I gained another daughter to love and to cherish." She raised her goblet and drank.