"I shall not change because I am in love with my husband," Allegra protested.

"I do not care how you justify it, cousin," Sirena said quietly. She held up a tiny gown she was working on. "Isn't it sweet? It is so amazing to realize that in late March or early April I shall be putting this wee gown on my baby." She set her sewing aside, and placed her hands upon her belly. "I thought I felt something very much like a butterfly within me this morning, Allegra."

Now Allegra smiled. "Wouldn't it be wonderful if one day my daughter married your son? We must arrange the match one day."

"Are we dressing for dinner?" Caroline Walworth entered the room now in the company of Eunice Bainbridge.

"No," Allegra said. "I shall ask Crofts to set up the highboard in the Great Hall tonight. We can amuse ourselves afterward, but since you are all leaving in the morning, I imagine you will want to make an early night of it." She sighed. "I shall miss you when you are gone."

"Bain says we are going to spend part of the winter in London," Eunice said.

"So are we," Caroline squealed. "I know that you don't like the city, Allegra, but the country is so dull in the winter months. You must come, and we shall all be together."

"I can't come," Sirena said sadly.

"No, you can't," Caroline replied in a practical tone, "but you were the first wed, and so it is only natural that you are the first of us to have a baby, Sirena. There will be another time for you, dearest, but if the rest of us aren't with child, or at least admitting to it, then we should go. If it snows this winter none of us shall be able to leave home. The snow does not seem to bother anyone in London."

"Are we keeping city hours, madame?" Quinton Hunter demanded of his wife as he entered the drawing room with the other gentlemen. "Where is the dinner, Duchess? We are all ravenous for a good supper."

"Patience, prithee, I pray you, Duke," Allegra said to him. "I must ask Crofts to set the table in the Great Hall, but the food, I will wager, is ready, although when you slugabeds were going to join us was a mystery." Then she curtsied to them all, and hurried from the room to find Crofts.

The dinner was served shortly thereafter, and the hall was filled with merry laughter as the eight friends ate and talked. Lady Caroline presented her plan that they should all meet in London in mid-January. The plan was heartily approved by all present except the viscount and his wife.

"I suppose you could go if you wanted to," Sirena said forlornly, but they could all see she really didn't mean it.

"You wouldn't mind?" Ocky said hopefully, but then he looked about at the others, and noted their looks of disapproval. "Of course you wouldn't mind for you are an angel, my darling," Ocky quickly recovered himself, "but I shall not leave you at Pickford with our heir so close to being born. What if there was a storm, and I couldn't return to be by your side? No, Sirena, we shall winter at Pickford together."

"Ohh, Ocky, that is so sweet," Sirena murmured happily.

After their meal the men decided to play at dice. The ladies insisted on being shown how to play.

"I am not certain that is a good idea," the Earl of Aston said.

"Afraid of losing to a lady, Marcus?" his wife murmured.

"Damnit, Eunice, there are some things a lady doesn't do," was the swift answer.

"Ladies play at gambling all the time," Allegra responded. "We play at cards, but this game you call Hazard looks like more fun."

"I thought you didn't like to gamble," Lord Walworth said.

"She doesn't, except among friends," his wife replied. "What is the harm, Adrian, in teaching us your little game?"

"Caroline!"

"Teach them," the duke said.

"What?" the earl cried. "You are encouraging this, Quint? You of all people?"

"I do not gamble for real stakes, and neither does my wife. I trust Allegra's good sense not to gamble with strangers, or for any real wager. I must assume that you trust your wives as well," the duke said.

"Bravo!" Caroline cried, and her female companions clapped.

The Earl of Aston laughed, and held up his hands. "I surrender, ladies. Very well, here is how you play the game. Hazard uses two dice. The caster who controls the dice throws until he, or she, scores five, six, seven, eight, or nine. Your first throw is called the main. Your second, which must equal the first cast, is called the chance. If your second throw equals your first then you have knicked it. If you throw crabs, which is a two, three, eleven, or twelve, you have thrown out, and lost. You must continue your play until you win or lose. It is simple enough."

Soon the Great Hall of Hunter's Lair was filled with noisy laughter as they all played Hazard. They made wagers such as a kiss, or a sip of port, or a sugar wafer. When Allegra suddenly realized that the tall clock in the hall had struck ten she called a halt to their game, reminding them of the time.

"What a wonderful evening," Caroline said enthusiastically. "We shall have such a grand time in London this winter. We really don't need any other friends but one another. And on our way home in March we shall all come to Pickford to pay our respects to the new heir, Sirena."

"And you will tell me of your adventures, and I shall be most envious. Ocky, we must not have another baby for at least two years."

They laughed, and hand in hand the four couples ascended the stairs once again to their bedchambers.

Chapter 12

Allegra celebrated her eighteenth birthday on December ninth with her husband, her father, and her stepmother, as well as Sirena, Ocky, George, and his wife, Melinda. Melinda chose the occasion to smugly announce that she was expecting a baby in midwinter.

"The gel might have picked another time for her little proclamation," murmured Lady Morgan to her husband. "I believe the wench has delusions of grandeur. I heard her say it was to be the next Sedgwick heir. The nerve of her! Allegra had best put a stop to that nonsense! The gel's mother has obviously been filling her head with all matter of silliness. I should not have thought Squire Franklyn's daughter such a bold baggage."

"Allegra will mother the next duke, my dear," Lord Morgan said quietly. "Are you not the mother of a fine family?"

Lady Morgan blushed prettily. "I am," she agreed.

"Then we shall not worry," Lord Morgan said.

The duke gave his wife a pretty cart, painted green and silver, along with a fat black and white pony to draw it. "You may not always want to ride about," he told her. "And if the weather is inclement, and you wish to go over to Pickford, the cart will do nicely."

"I shall have to go to Pickford now that Sirena is limited in her travels," Allegra said, putting an arm about her cousin. "Thank you for coming today, darling. You have suddenly popped and are showing your belly, Sirena. It is most becoming."

"Your godson is thriving," Sirena laughed. "Ohh, Allegra, I shall miss you this winter when you are in London."

"I'd be just as happy to remain here," Allegra said. "I don't really like the city, but Eunice and Caroline insist we come. We shall only remain a few weeks, I promise."

"Where will you stay?" Sirena asked.

"At Papa's house," Allegra answered. "It is foolish of us to purchase another house as Papa's will belong to us one day. Besides we like Berkley Square, and it is quite conveniently located."

Sirena laughed. "I wish I could go," she said. "You will have so much more fun than when we were debutantes, Allegra. We had to be so prim and proper then lest we spoil our chances for husbands. There is the theatre, Vauxhall Gardens, fetes, costume balls, opera, and the races! I will think of you when you are gone, cousin."


***

The Season always began in March or April, but ended by mid-June, when everybody who was anybody returned to their country estates and homes. A Little Season began in September, but by November the town was deserted again by the well-to-do. In January when Parliament began, many of the fashionables returned to town and the country was deadly dull. The duke and his three friends, who usually did not involve themselves in politics, had decided to attend the government session while they were in London. The Earl of Aston and Lord Walworth would be renting the old Earl of Pickford's house during their stay as he was not coming to Parliament this year in anticipation of his grandchild's birth. He wanted to be there when his next heir made his debut.

Allegra and the duke traveled to London in a large, comfortable traveling coach drawn by six horses. The interior of the vehicle was well padded, and it was well sprung. The seats were upholstered in a soft beige leather. Beneath each seat was a metal box for hot coals so that the coach might be heated. The heat escaped through a brass latticework at the bottom of each of the two benches. There were small crystal oil lamps, banded in silver, for light. The windows were glass, and could be raised or lowered depending upon the weather. The windows had cream-colored velvet curtains that could be drawn for privacy. The back of the seat facing the rear of the coach could be drawn down. It held its passengers' food and wine. The coachmen's box held two men. There was a bench behind the coach for two footmen. The top of the vehicle was deep enough and wide enough for a goodly supply of luggage.